Get Ready to Live!
by Vokal
Summary: It is the year 2021 in a broken world... Alec is sent on a dangerous mission by Max that leads him to question his life and his dark past and forms a connection with a woman who will change his life forever... Alec, get ready to live! UPDATED March 5th
1. Opposites Attract

The sounds of police sirens rung with the usual air of regularity and normalcy in post-apocalyptic America as he raced through the still back alleys of Seattle on his motorcycle. Tonight would be just like every other night he had experienced since the world went crazy and totally bailed on his transgenic ass. 

It's weird to think that he was once a part of that world, living the dream in a broken city. Now a guy can't even earn a decent living through hard work, persistence and crafty manipulation without evangelists and 'do-gooders' hounding the 'trannies'. Alec's mind flicked back to Biggs' broken body and he shivered, not from the cold – he couldn't much feel it, he was designed that way, but as if his body was rejecting the memory, shaking away a virus – a niggling thought. 

The humans believed that they were the virus – the dirty transgenic freaks from Manticore, a lower form of life - not even life at all, when it was really humans, the 'norms' that were low. Biggs had never hurt anyone intentionally; he was just a decent, genetically-engineered super soldier looking to carve out a new life for himself. Some life. Alec was tense now. What had started out as a mission designated to him by Max, the new transgenic leader of sorts, to do some simple recon on a medical supplies warehouse had turned into one of his drawn out, high-speed motorcycle rides through the decrepit city he now called home. They'd become a habit now, or more of an outlet for his anger, frustration and rage. Rage at Max, at Manticore, at White and his Familiars, rage at the world and at himself. It gave him some space to breathe, to exist in his own head space for while, sort through the strange little thing that was his life. 

His muscles tensed against his bike, his usually happy-go-lucky grin flattened into a terse line across his angled face. Maybe thinking wasn't such a good idea – cos it only seemed to make him angrier. There was a time when nothing really bugged Alec at all, and if it did, it could be solved by a trip to the local bar or a night of passion with some leggy blonde whose name he wouldn't remember in the morning. Alec sighed inwardly. Not anymore though. Everything seemed to wind him tighter and tighter, even Max's routine nagging was wedging itself into a place of high irritation in Alec's usually cool head. 

Alec was stirred from his thoughts by the distant sound of footsteps and club music. Even in his reverie he had still been on high alert, had to these days, what with the leader of an ancient creepy breeding cult, the state's military and local vigilantes all out to get you and yours. He slowed his motorbike and darted into the darker shadows cast by the crumbling walls of centuries-old warehouses, his genetically enhanced vision piercing the obscurity to search out the source of his sudden concern. 

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched a guy and a girl who was obviously Miss Tonight emerge from another night club roaring in the seedy underbelly of a society that just didn't seem to care anymore. He was whispering sweet nothings, she was giggling through her obvious intoxication. Alec observed the couple until they disappeared around a corner, silently contemplating if he still had it – the now infamous Smart Alec charm he'd had to keep dormant while hiding out at Terminal City. Climbing off his bike he edged closer to the club's entrance. He shouldn't really – it's too dangerous, what if someone were to find out who he was? What he was? Would he end up like Biggs? Biggs. Alec winced against the thought again. 

He wanted to lose himself, forget about Manticore and what they made him do, forget about the war and transgenics and running for his life – even if it was just for one night. He turned up the collar of his leather jacket in an attempt to disguise his barcode and headed toward the door. To hell with it. He was fed up thinking things through, which was more of a Max or Logan thing, Alec was action, and so that's what he'd do tonight. 

************************************************************ 

Inside the club was warm from the masses of bodies pressing together and the lack of regulated air ventilation. It smelled of sweat, cheap beer and motor oil. The warehouse that now served as a club could have been a garage in its other lifetime. Alec edged over to the bar – he didn't really have the confidence thing working for him anymore. His eyes darted over the faces in the club – some dancing, some drinking beer, some relaxing on the couches. They were all the enemy and he was surrounded. He knew this was a bad idea. Why didn't he think with his brain rather than his… 

His eyes drifted back over to the bar and that's when he saw her. Alone at the bar, she finished off her drink, licking its residue off her lips. He watched her closely, took in every movement of her body as she signaled to the bar keeper for another drink and then turned back to the bit of paper she was concentrating on in a determined manner. She was about the same age as himself, and wore cheap denim jeans – a patchwork of different colored denims, and a dark red tank top with some indefinable writing scrawled across the front of it. Her chocolate-colored hair tumbled freely down her back, messed up like she really didn't care what she looked like. 

The leather jacket that hung over her knees while she sat at the bar completed the street punk look – though Alec wasn't that easily fooled. He could have easily fenced her watch for at least a grand. The girl had money, so there were two probable reasons why she was attempting to fit in at a place like this. One; she was meeting her lower class boyfriend in secret or two; she was looking to slum it for a night with a guy who wouldn't be able to track her down in the morning. He watched as another girl went to sit next to her. He saw the girl ask if the seat was taken, was she waiting for someone? The mysterious brunette shook her head. Bingo, Alec smirked. Looks like it was number two after all. 

She felt his eyes on her long before he came over to the bar. She had a sense that somebody was watching her and suddenly felt very exposed. As the bar keep placed another drink down in front of her, she contemplated turning and walking out of this place, going home and forgetting she had ever come. She twisted a lock of her hair around her fingers nervously, and downed her gin in a mouthful, placing the glass delicately back on the bar. At that, a guy sidled over to her, a cocky smile planted on his youthful face. 

"Can I buy you a drink?" Alec asked her confidently, dipping his head slightly and raising one eyebrow in wait for her response. She turned and faced him fully, getting off the bar stool and clasping her jacket in her hands, placing the bit of paper in one of its pockets. Her eyes met his; deep, forest green eyes locking with his mischievous light hazel ones. Her eyes searched his for less than a second, before she broke the connection, and narrowing her eyes answered him emotionlessly. "I'm going home". Alec raised his other eyebrow and put on his lost, hurt puppy dog look, but it was superfluous, she had already turned and started walking away. He stood dumbfounded for a second. What had just happened? His eyes followed her toward the exit. She turned suddenly, and asked almost expectantly, "Well, you coming?" 

Outside, the cold air rushed up to meet them and she put her jacket on to shield against its biting fury. She watched him carefully as he surveyed the streets nervously. He didn't seem to notice the temperature change. She watched his eyelids flicker as he strained to hear. It was only for a moment but she thought she saw a faint hint of fear in his eyes, and then relief as a car rounded the corner and several young revelers jumped out. She wondered what he was afraid of. 

He felt her staring at him, felt those dark emerald colored eyes excavating his soul. He turned to face her. "You got a ride?" She looked at him blankly. Further proof she wasn't from around here. "You know, like, wheels? A Car? A vehicle". He elaborated. She shook her head, ignoring the patronization in his voice. He grinned, "You like motorcycles?" 

They were tearing down the streets at high speeds, Alec leaning into the sharp turns and Emerald Eyes holding on for dear life behind him. He could feel her body pressed against his - warm, soft and welcoming. She was curvy in all the right places, with a small build and soft features. She was not the most beautiful girl Alec had ever seen, but there was something in her eyes, narrow and sensual beneath dark lashes, that instantly drew him into her, holding him in a place transcending the world of flesh, mysteriously safe and wanted, protected and needed. He mentally shook himself. She is just an ordinary, Alec. How could she keep you safe? He felt her grip on his chest tighten as they rounded another corner and he grinned. Just another mortal norm, fearing death, hating life and searching for a fulfillment that would never come. 

She could feel his heartbeat underneath her fingertips as she gripped his muscular body. It was regular and steady while hers was racing a mile a minute. Why was she so nervous? He was just another street dweller, searching for an easy night, and she would be gone in the morning, she'd never have to see him again. The thing that she feared though, was that she might want to. She felt so alone, so lost, drifting listlessly in the world, without purpose, without being. For a moment when she'd met his eyes at the bar, she'd thought that he was lonely too, that they had a connection. But she knew she had only been fooling herself, looking for something in him that just wasn't there. Maybe it was to make what she was about to do less wrong, that maybe it wasn't just physical – but there was no excuse, no higher reason, just simple gratification. And that made her feel empty. 

************************************************************ 

Alec pulled to a stop out the front of his old apartment, not far from the club where they had met. He did a quick study of the surrounding area to make sure no-one was staking the place out, and, satisfied he was safe, jumped off the bike to help… he didn't know her name. It just occurred to him. He should at least ask and make it seem like he cared. Or maybe he did care. He offered his hand out to her; she took it and stepped off the motorcycle. Her face looked flushed as she turned to him. "That was…" she began, but Alec finished her sentence off. "Thrilling?" He inquired with a quick flick up of his eyebrows. She loved the way he seemed to talk with his eyebrows. "Life threatening" she quipped and looked up at the apartment building. He followed her gaze and looked up at the building too. "I'm Alec" he whispered simply. Without looking at him, she nodded. That was it? She wouldn't even tell him her name? Well, whatever moves her furniture… 

Familiar smells rushed back to greet Alec as he entered his old apartment. He watched her survey the room, taking in her surroundings. She was observant – like him. He smiled. "Nice place", the girl with no name commented as she wiped her hand over the table that served as his bar and raised it, covered in dust. "Yeah, not much of a cleaner" he answered with another cocky yet charming grin. He walked over to her, picking up a glass as if offering to pour her a drink. She shook her head. She felt him tense up beside her. Was he angry? She turned into him, closing the distance between them, placing a hand gently on his heart. She felt the steady, rhythmic beat beneath her palm. 

He was startled by her sudden closeness, and the glass fell from his hand, slipping through his fingers as though they had suddenly ceased to work, and bouncing onto the table. At least it hadn't broken. He could smell her as he breathed in – an intoxicating mix of musk, motor oil (he guessed was from his motorcycle) and her own unique scent. He ran a hand gently through her wind-tousled hair before cupping her petite face in his hands. He leant in and kissed her slowly, gently. She closed her eyes, letting her hand slide up from his heart, over his chest and behind his head, running her hands through his hair. 

He could feel her fingertips on his bare neck – flesh against flesh, and his heart started to race. She let her hands slide back down to his shoulders, pulling his jacket off as they migrated, soon finding their way underneath his shirt, scrunching it up at the bottom and pulling it up over his head. They had to break the kiss in order for this maneuver, but they kept their bodies touching. He began working on her jacket, letting it drop to the floor before pulling her top gracefully over head, her hair tumbling back down onto her shoulders and dancing around the soft edges of her face. He could feel her skin beneath his fingers, soft and smooth, contrasting the roughness of his own. For a brief moment a thought that maybe he wasn't good enough for her – that she deserved someone far better than himself crossed his mind. It was, of course, hastily abandoned as she began working on his belt buckle. 

The night seemed to go on forever. It was as if they existed apart from the real world, apart from the police sirens that rang shrill around them, apart from the humming of fluorescent lights, apart even from the bed he took her gently on, loving her, exploring her, and finally, when the moment came, taking her hard yet tenderly beneath him. In the moments after, Alec rested on top of her, the energy from their bodies percolating into the still air around them. He would have stayed with her like that forever if he could have, but his ever present caution caused him to roll onto his back so as to hide the barcode on his neck. She rolled onto her side as he moved, her hand languidly taking its place on his chest just over his heart. She felt the steady beat beneath her fingers, and almost deliberately, it calmed her into a contented sleep. 

Alec sensed her fall asleep beside him, her breath becoming shallow and her delicate hand resting on his bare chest slackened. He sighed. He'd have to move soon, Max would be expecting him back at Terminal City with reports about the supply warehouse. But he could hear her breathing, a soft, almost cadenced resonance, and with every breath _he_ took he was inundated by the after scents of their lovemaking and the rich musk perfume she wore. His eyelids grew heavy, and his arm moved protectively around her shoulders, cradling her into him. With a reluctant sigh, Alec entered a deep sleep. 

************************************************************ 

The dawn was cracking the pollution-filled sky before Alec stirred again. He woke disorientated and confused. Where was he? The usual nightmares had haunted him last night – Manticore, Rachel, Biggs, visions of Terminal City… but he had awoken in a strange place. No, wait, it hadn't been strange to him some time ago. It was his old apartment. He took in the once-familiar scene with his keen sight - the magazines, a broken chair, the over-stuffed lounge and paint-peeling walls. Sighing, he went to sit upright, when he noticed a slight weight on his chest. He glanced at her slender hand, not having moved from its resting place last night. His eyes traced up her arm, over her supple white skin; skin, he realized now as she lay bathed in the morning light, that was far lighter than his own, smooth and unmarked, a sign of a privileged life. 

His eyes rested on her oval face, its features softened as she slept. Her eyes were closed, but he could still remember their vividness, their rich green depths and all-seeing qualities. Her hair was strewn over her shoulders and the pillows, a stray strand hanging in front of her face. He gently brushed the hair away, his fingertips dancing on her skin as he did so. He was entranced by the sleeping woman, his eyes unable to move from the glow of her skin and her musky scent. He had known that it would only be for one night, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to move, to disturb her peaceful sleep. He watched her closely. He now realized how incongruous she had been in the club, dressed in her street clothes. She was refined, delicate, and… innocent in a way that those who had faced the harsh reality of life below the poverty line could never be. 

Curiosity killed the cat, they say, and he did have feline DNA, so he couldn't really blame himself for wanting to know more about this girl, it was a matter of simple genetics. He took her hand tenderly, moving it from his chest so he could get out of bed. She stirred slightly, nestling herself into the mattress. Alec held his breath, hoping she wouldn't awake. When he had determined that she was in fact asleep, he pulled on his clothes and then headed to the pile of her clothes on the floor. Fishing through her leather jacket, he found the bit of paper she had been reading at the bar and unfolded it. He skim read most of it, but gathered enough to determine that it was the closing statement to a court case, hand written. She must have been memorizing it. 

He glanced over to her on the bed and raised an eyebrow in speculation. A lawyer, who'd have guessed? Well, that explains the watch anyway. He searched around in her pockets for other incriminating items, but found only lip-gloss, chewing gum and a perfume spray that he imagined contained the delectable musk scent he had grown to love… like. He sighed. She remained a mystery – he still didn't even know her name. Carrying no ID, not even a sector pass, meant that she had to live in the area. Highly doubtful, he concluded, seeing as how most of the places in this district were either derelict or over-run with squatters. Another mystery. 

He heard her stir and sigh, signaling his time to leave, and without a word or any further delay, Alec clicked the door to his apartment closed and headed down the corridor. He paused, feeling for a moment like a man who should turn back. Like he wanted to turn back, take her in his arms and hold her, discover her name and why she was at the club, be engulfed by her delicious scent and feel her soft skin beneath his fingertips. But he didn't turn back. 

While part of him screamed to go back to her, another part urged him on ahead, back to Terminal City, to his mission, to others of his kind. It told him that if she were to know what he really was she would hate him, despise him. Her skin would shudder at his touch; she would be repulsed by his mere presence. It reminded him that he wasn't a man and that he never would be, that he was different from her in a way that made it impossible for them to be together. She was a norm, imperfect in her creation with mortal weaknesses and fears, and he was a genetically engineered soldier, part man, part animal and designed to be perfect and superior to the mere humans. But if he was fearless, then why was he afraid of what he was feeling? And if he was perfect, why did he feel flawed in comparison to her gentle radiance? 

She heard the faint click of the door as he closed it quietly behind him. She laid sill for several moments. He had gone. What had she expected? Eggs and toast for breakfast? No. She knew as much as he did that they had been one night and no more. No morning after or indolent breakfast together. She was by herself again, like she had always been, and the way she preferred it. She was totally together without a man in her life. Besides, they were too different. He was obviously from another world to her, cos judging by the way he had left in such a hurry, this wasn't his apartment. His clothes screamed 'punk' at her, and his wry grin and self-reliance suggested he was used to fending for himself. She understood that if he knew the truth about her, he would turn away from her, reject her because of who she was. She was affluent and successful, and he was probably struggling through life with either low paying or low moral jobs and no future. But if she was so together, then why did she feel so alone? And if she was so successful, why did she feel so worthless balanced against his audacious confidence? 

One thing they were both certain of – opposites attract, and last night they were electric with an energy and sensation neither of them had ever felt before 


	2. Soldier

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.  
  
MY EMAIL: idiot__jed@hotmail.com  
  
WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy  
  
CHAPTER TWO - SOLDIER  
  
We are what we are. Nothing can change that. Nothing. Alec sighed as he approached the secret entrance to Terminal City, known only to him and Max and a handful of other trusted transgenics. Alec was a soldier, always had been and always would be. At Manticore, doing what he was told, following orders. After Max burned the place to the ground he became a free man, but still a soldier at heart. Warring against his past, and fighting to forge a future for himself in a world far from welcoming. And now there was this. The transgenics and their 'Freak Nation'. The cause. Alec's cause. Alec's people. Alec's new battle. It was too much to ask for one night, just one night to pretend to be a regular guy, and Alec knew he was going to pay as soon as Max got a hold of him. "Alec, where the hell have you been?" Alec winced at the sound of her voice. Looks like she'd got a hold of him already.  
  
Alec met Max's angry eyes as he emerged from the sewer tunnel he used to exit and enter their new home. Her eyes narrowed at him, and Alec knew she was thinking of a million ways to torture him. He imagined the outburst that was to follow, and he mentally braced himself for a rehash of all the bad things he'd ever done. Alec was surprised by the unexpected softness in her voice as she almost whispered, "I was worried". His shock must have been mirrored on his face, because Max quickly recomposed herself and launched into full abuse mode.  
  
"And not to mention that we are in dire need of those med supplies here and you were probably off goofballing on your motorcycle. Do you ever think of anyone else, Alec? Of course not, Alec is the number one priority in your life" Max tilted her head to the side as if to push the full impact of her rant into Alec's self-absorbed brain. The guy never learns. She'd been worried at first, but somehow she knew that the reason he was late was definitely his fault. It always was. She saw the distant look float behind his eyes. He was switching off. He wasn't listening to her. The nerve.  
  
Alec felt the blow behind his head long before he saw it coming. Damn X-5 speed. Max grinned triumphantly at him. "What the hell was that for?" Alec drawled out after the initial shock wore off. "Just remember that the next time you drift off while I'm talking to ya, I'm gonna hit ya upside yer head" She almost sneered at him. "You just did!" "And I will do it again". Max became a little more serious. "Now get your ass over to Command, I need your help with something".  
  
Alec never missed an opportunity and this was too good to pass up. "What, the all-powerful, ass-kicking Maxie needs my help, Alec's help, the lowly X- 5 drone?" Max retained her seriousness. "Well it's not like I can get Joshua to do it". She stalked away. Alec raised one eyebrow inquisitively as he watched her disappear around a mound of rubbish. He wondered what she needed him for. He knew that it couldn't be for anything but a mission. He had comforted Max once when she had let him see her vulnerable side, and apart from a rare few occasions when she had let her guard down, or during one of their battle of wits, since their arrival at Terminal City she had only addressed him as a soldier. Why should this occasion be any different?  
  
Max knew that there were hundreds of able and willing transgenics she could have been acquisitioned for this mission. Transgenics that hadn't recently held their place of employment hostage and compromised their identity. Plenty of other soldiers could do it; problem was Alec was the only one she trusted to do it. She mentally kicked herself. Alec is a screw-up, he messes everything up. Maybe, but lately he had become her comrade, and dare she admit it - her friend. She realized that his dedication to the cause was almost as strong - if not equal to, her own passion for it, and valued his input and insight more than he realized. More than he would ever realize, and that was the way she preferred it. Couldn't have him getting a big ego now, could she? Well, a more inflated ego, anyway. She didn't like having to ask for his help, especially seeing as how she knew he'd probably volunteer for the job anyway. Maybe she was just using it as an excuse to go looking for him. Hard as it was to admit, she kinda missed his wry remarks and observing wit when he wasn't around. Guess things were really tough in TC at the mo', and that he was the little light entertainment they had. Yeah, that had to be it.  
  
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Alec entered Command and greeted the bunch of transhumans with a flick of his fingers in a half-salute that finished with him clapping his hands together. The crew were used to his characteristic greeting, and responded in their equally unique ways. Mole grunted a response through the cigar balancing precariously between his lips, Gemma raised a hand vaguely from her computer keyboard and Dix looked up from his computer and smiled, while several of the others nodded their heads in acknowledgement. They liked Alec and trusted his skills as a leader. For the most part they viewed him as a leader on equal par with Max, and knew that his extra years at Manticore had prepared him for the inevitable war between humans and transgenics. However, they also recognized the uncertain darkness within him, and no-one underestimated what he was capable of. They knew that he was adjusting to the world and learning in the same way they were, and they knew that like them, Alec hid in his own basement, a dark corner behind the façade of a happy-go-lucky charmer. They also knew that he was capable of making mistakes.  
  
Alec sidled over to Max and lent on the table near where she was standing. Max raised an eyebrow at him over the papers she was looking at. "Good, you're here". Max drew in a breath as if what she was about to say was long and important. Alec had a feeling that it was. The other transgenics gathered around attentively. "Okay people", Max began, "Here's the 411." Luke pasted a picture on the wall behind Max, and Max gestured to it. "Undoubtedly y'all 'ave heard of Reverend Terry Caldwell either from the news or close encounters with his bands of followers and vigilantes yielding stones and weapons over our perimeter fence." Angry nods and muffled replies echoed from the gathered transgenics. "Thanks to the recon supplied to us by Logan, we have reason to believe that the Reverend is in league with White and his associated breeding cult, and is supplying them with info, leaking info to the press, and receiving orders and directives from White. Basically, him and his crew are a tool that allows White to control the general public indirectly." Mole grunted and straightened his posture as he responded to Max's information. "So we take him out" Max sighed slightly. "Absolutely not. The reverend is a very vocal, very public objector of transgenics. If there is a hit on him, they'll know who is responsible, and the last thing we need is another reason for them to come breaking down our doors and send us backto the US Army in pine boxes. Besides we can't just off everyone who is in opposition to us". Mole grunted again. "Max, that is what war is about!" "It's not a war." Alec's voice broke the tension between Mole and Max. He glanced up at both of them before casting his gaze over the other transgenics. "We're not soldiers anymore. I'll do it." Understanding resounded between Max and Alec, but Mole and the others were unsure of what he meant. "Do what?" Mole asked gruffly. "Infiltrate his crew, find out what they know, what our lil buddy White is up to, when they plan to attack blah blah woof woof..." Alec responded casually, finishing with one of his oh so confident grins. Max nodded to the others. "It's our best chance of staying one step ahead of the enemy". "It's your best chance of getting Alec killed!" Gemma's voice resounded strongly in the room. "It's too dangerous, what if they find out who he is?" Alec noticed the concern in Gemma's voice, and attempted to reassure her. "I can take care of myself" he responded. She looked at him warily. "Not one of us here could take on a gang on our own, don't you remember what happened to Biggs?" Alec's eyes dropped to the ground, avoiding everyone's gaze as he whispered softly "I do, that's why I gotta do this."  
  
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Alec knew the mission would be difficult and dangerous and he expected no less. He also knew why Max had wanted him to take it on. She trusted him, knew he could be counted on. Or maybe she just wanted to get him out of her way for a while, cos seeing as how the mission was deep cover, he wouldn't be returning to Terminal City until Max ordered him home. All his correspondence would be sent firstly to Logan, who would then redirect it to Terminal City HQ. "Back in the real world Alec, are you ready for it?" Alec asked himself the question repeatedly in his head. Of course he was, he's Alec, the guy who can handle anything, anytime and do it with a smile and a cocky tilt of his head. He reassured himself as he packed a bag, filling it with essentials such as clothes, shaving foam, a shotgun, a sweet 9mm Smith and Wesson and a bottle of pre-pulse whiskey. He smiled to himself confidently, it's all gonna come correct Alec.  
  
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Max paced nervously at the entrance to TC, biting her bottom lip and running her fingers continuously through her hair. She hadn't been worried before, but now, as the tension before the mission intensified, she had begun to question her decisions. Could she trust Alec to do his job? How would the others at TC react if something were to happen to Alec? Would they blame her? Would they still trust her leadership? Max swallowed. Oh god, what if something happened to Alec? Would she be able to forgive herself? Max's thoughts trailed into an abrupt halt as soon as she saw Alec striding confidently toward her. With his usual cocky grin plastered on his genetically engineered face, a confident bounce in his step and a characteristic tilt of his head, Max found it difficult to imagine that Alec was feeling the slightest bit of hesitation about the mission. He was calm and collected, while she had been here worrying about him. Why did Alec just have a knack for frustrating her?  
  
Alec saluted Max as he approached her. "X5 - Smart Alec reporting for duty ma'am" Alec smiled confidently, but inwardly he was losing his resolve. As soon as he had stepped outside his makeshift apartment the fear had gripped him. Would he end up like Biggs? He kept seeing Bigg's body in his nightmares, and lately even when he was awake. He didn't know why exactly it had affected him with such magnitude, perhaps it had made him realize that he wasn't in fact immortal, indestructible and all-powerful, but fragile, vulnerable. human. But he had to maintain the façade for Max. He had to appear in control, confident, calm and collected. And he would.  
  
"Now, if you run into trouble or anything." Max began. "Don't worry Max, I'm not gonna screw it up" Alec his hid hurt expression well, but Max sensed a disturbance within him. She sighed, and in a rare moment of personal honesty, she decided to open up to him. slightly. "That's not what I meant." Max reached over and touched his arm gently. Alec looked up in surprise. "Just be careful" Max's worried eyes searched his for a distant feeling she knew he was keeping hidden. Alec smiled somewhat falsely. Max pretended she didn't notice and reverted back to the more comfortable lecture mode she had grown accustomed to when talking to Alec, although some softness was retained in her voice as she found it difficult to hide her concern for her friend. "And don't do anything stupid, you hear? And if you go and get yourself killed or anything, I'll kick your ass." Alec nodded at her slowly. He couldn't find the words to express what he was feeling - fear, terror, shame at his fear, friendship, excitement and the ever-present ominous warning he carried inside him. Turning to farewell the small group of transgenics gathered behind him, Alec waved and flashed them one of his trademark smiles. With that he disappeared into the dark sewer below, the only sound the seemingly distant echo of his feet as he climbed down the ladder that led him away from his home in Terminal City and to a world he thought he had left behind.  
  
Above him, under a silvery moon, the other trangenics released a breath they didn't know they had been holding and slowly shuffled back to their posts, each silently reassuring themselves that Alec would be alright and that he would be able to get the information they needed to take down White once and for all. Once the crowd had shifted, one transgenic remained where they had stood. A tear slid down her cheek involuntarily and undetected as a feeling of ominous foreboding swept over her. "Good luck, Alec", Max whispered softly before turning her back and heading toward the dim but unfaltering lights of Terminal City.  
  
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	3. Broken World

lDISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.  
  
MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com  
  
WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy  
  
CHAPTER THREE - BROKEN WORLD  
  
A cold, damp breeze played about Alec's face as he sat perched atop the Space Needle, his ageless hazel eyes drawing in the broken world below him. He could smell the beginnings of rain on the horizon and sensed the approaching sunrise in his bones. The dawn brought with it countless complications for Alec, and as much as the world needed its warmth and comfort, Alec silently cursed the cycle of the sun, much rather preferring the concealing darkness of night and the misleading shadows cast by the uncertain moon. In the light Alec was vulnerable - exposed, and although he shielded himself constantly beneath the smile and charm of a happy-go-lucky sociopath, he also consistently slipped up, revealing his weaknesses beneath the blinding harshness of day. It was difficult maintaining the façade but eventually, as Alec grew into acceptance of himself and his friends, he had been able to let down his guard some of the time. But now he'd have to become HIM again - the man Alec hated, but mostly, the man Alec feared. The Soldier. The Pretender. The man Manticore made Alec so long ago when they trained him to be an assassin, an infiltrator, a killer. The man Alec tried so hard to forget, but whose face he saw every time he looked in the mirror, and whose memories flooded back to him every time he smelled the metallic sensation of blood or heard the distant sound of helicopters or the haunting resonance of an eloquently played piano. This man was a part of Alec and that was what scared him the most - not that the transgenic-haters might discover him and torture or kill him, but that he would deserve it.  
  
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The last time Alec had pastries was the day before Annie was murdered and he had picked some up from Little Debbie's on his way to Joshua's place where he had been hiding out to avoid the police and a definite life sentence in one of their less glamorous resorts. Biting into their flaky texture this morning reminded him of those days long ago. well they seemed long ago anyway, and a wave of nostalgia flooded him. If he had those days again. He sighed out loud at the things he could've done differently, fancy wasting it all on hookers and beer. Alec grinned, nah wouldn't change that part for anything. Though lately Alec hadn't been doing much of it, one thing could be said, when he smiled, he smiled. And when Alec smiled, everyone else around him usually did too. An old woman selling raffle tickets outside the bakery noticed Alec beaming and couldn't help smiling herself. His smile spread across his face involuntarily and was filled with a mischievous undertone that made passers-by wonder what he was thinking about. Licking the pastry residue from his lips Alec stepped out onto the street with his duffel bag swung over his shoulder, oblivious to the many pairs of eyes watching him and appreciating the radiance he was emanating. Alec could light up a room or a bakery or the whole street when he was near, but somehow he couldn't let any of that light into his own life. Especially now.  
  
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Max had given Alec specific, thorough and step-by-step instructions to follow and Alec was determined to follow them exactly. Okay, well maybe not exactly, but mostly. Then again, not mostly either seeing as how The Space Needle and Little Debbie's hadn't been on his list of 'To Do's' but more on the side of his 'Not To Do's' list. But he'd started a pattern now and patterns are hard to break, that's why he was gonna have to make one more stop before he commenced his 'mission'.  
  
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Alec pulled up to the club on his motorcycle, memories of a distant night racing through his head and his genetically-charged blood. He had been planning on following Max's commands; Go to his apartment and get settled in; visit Logan to get his barcode lasered off and pick up some surveillance equipment; apply for a job with Reverend Caldwell. Simple, easy-to-follow directions. But as Alec had been contemplating on the Space Needle the club had come to mind, the club and her. However, as he glanced over the club's exterior in the bright of day, Alec wondered if he had imagined the encounter several nights ago as the building before him in no way resembled the somewhat mystical aura of the one he remembered. The harsh sun eliminated any appeal the club might have at night as it revealed the dissipating walls, acid-wash bricks and the debris of the neighborhood that seemed to have collated around the entrance. When he knocked on the door it almost collapsed as the rusting hinges groaned beneath the force of his fist. He didn't know why he was here, but just being here had him spinning. He could smell her, taste her, and remember everything about her - the woman with no name and eyes as deep as the ocean and as green as the last forests. The bar's owner greeted Alec at the door with a grunt as he flicked the towel he was holding over his shoulder. "What can I do for you?" He asked in a low, rasping voice. Alec eyed him over cautiously before beginning. "I was here the other night, with a girl." Alec raised his eyebrow in question. "You expect me to remember everyone who comes in here?" Alec smiled wryly. "You'd remember her. Dark hair, great body, expensive watch, pretty eyes." Alec characteristically shook his head to the side as he spoke and his hands made seemingly involuntary gestures. A look of recognition crossed the balding man's face and Alec smirked triumphantly. "That's right buddy, you know who I'm talking about." The owner grunted his distaste. "The hot stuff girl lawyer who comes in here acting like she's one of us." Alec's face fell and he almost sighed in disappointment. "So she comes here all the time." Alec nodded his head slowly and the corner of his mouth curled as the realization that their night together wasn't anything special to her dawned on him. The older man seemed to notice the change in the strange young man before him, and he attempted his best comforting words. "Well, maybe not all the time, but she's been here a few times." Alec's shoulders slumped as he nodded his thanks and turned back toward his motorcycle. He was confused. He felt like he'd been betrayed - but he hadn't. He didn't even know the girl for crying out loud. They were a one night stand, one in a long line for Alec, yet for some reason he was jealous. Alec shook himself both mentally and physically. He started his motorcycle and tried not to think about her. Tried not to imagine her delicate, supple skin, the soft curves of her body and her dark hair cascading over bare shoulders. But mostly he tried not to think about her eyes. Those piercing, green, incandescent eyes that saw through him and made him feel vulnerable and safe, afraid and excited, alone and loved all at the same time. Get over it Alec, she's just an intangible memory. A memory that Alec thought he could leave behind him as he sped away from the seedy club and into the bright Seattle morning. But Alec's genetically-enhanced senses foretold the forthcoming rain and revealed to him the soft rumblings of dark clouds racing through the sky. Seattle would need to prepare for a storm.  
  
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Alec arrived at Logan's place (formerly Joshua's) hours later than he was supposed too. Damn, Alec thought. He disliked the idea of giving Logan another reason to hate him. When he entered the house he could see Logan sitting at his computer trying to save the nation. Hmph. Alec was about to make some witty comment when he realized, what was he trying to do himself? Save his Freak Nation. Guess they were more similar than either realized. "Alec, is that you?" Alec heard Logan call somewhat scathingly from the other room. "Great", Alec muttered under his breath before fixing a strained smile on his face and bouncing into where Logan waited. "Hey, Logan, buddy, wassup?" Logan looked up at Alec over his glasses in a condescending manner, eyeing the younger man before speaking. "Good, you're here" Alec could feel the contained anger emitting from Logan even though he was doing his best to suppress it. He knew that Logan never really liked him much, but since Max's little charade where she made Logan think that Alec and Max were dating, Alec noticed Logan's intense dislike of him. Added to this, Logan was obviously still fuming because Max had chosen to remain in Terminal City with the transgenics when he had left and gone back to Seattle and Eyes Only, rather than return to what Logan called 'the real world'. He didn't realize that TC was very real to the hundreds of transgenics who resided there and to the hundreds more who had died or would die defending it. He listened to Logan's careful instructions for hours, Logan repeating everything more than twice so that Alec would understand and making him memorize countless reports and maps as he lasered off his tattoo. Alec was getting frustrated - didn't Logan realize that this is what Alec had been trained to do for twenty years? But he understood that they were both after the same goal and working for the same cause, so every time he felt the urge to smirk and cut Logan down he contained himself and smiled through it all.  
  
That god damn smile. Logan hated it. He had been angry when Alec was late and was so worried that he would screw the mission up that he had gone over everything thoroughly. He could sense Alec's frustration, but somehow that only served to make him more determined to repeat information, speak slower and make the X5 memorize anything that he had lying around. It was hard pretending to be civil to this man. He didn't hate Alec, but he didn't like him very much either. He did, however, hate that Alec had taken the one thing Logan had ever truly loved apart from his work - Max, and that hurt him so badly that sometimes it felt as if he couldn't breathe. He hated that Max had chosen to remain with Alec at Terminal City instead of with him. He thought that they had reconciled. He remembered holding her hand that morning, watching the sun rise as they stood beneath the Freak Flag, his heart full of hope. But that hope had been taken from him when Max had looked him in the eye and told him that she had to stay with her own. No love, no hope. Logan felt as if everything had been taken from him and that made him feel empty inside.  
  
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Alec left Logan's place tired, frustrated and desperately annoyed. He didn't like the fact that he was going to have to rely on this man for the successful completion of the mission. It wasn't that he didn't trust Logan; it was that he didn't want to. Besides, he didn't like that fact that Logan was going to be able to see almost everything he was doing. Alec turned slightly on his motorcycle and eyed the small camera and surveillance equipment he was going use to spy on Reverend Caldwell with distaste. But it had to be done, Alec reminded himself sternly, the survival of his people depended on it. And so, like he frequently did, Alec swallowed his feelings, pushing them into a region of his mind and heart where they would not easily resurface. Riding at high-speed through the dying streets of post-pulse Seattle, Alec's mind wandered to other things; new parts for his motorcycle, the vintage whiskey at his apartment, spending the night at the blowfish tavern. and her. As much as he tried to forget her - he couldn't. And as much as he had to forget her - he didn't want to. But thinking of her perfect skin, tender touch, warm musk scent and those primeval yet embryonic green eyes made Alec crave other things - things he knew he would never have. A normal life, a place to call home, a stupid little job delivering packages for a hopelessly devoted boss, and one more night with her, hell two more nights, three. forever. Alec shook the thoughts from his head, buried more feelings far beyond his genetically-engineered heart, just as he had been trained to do and blanked his mind, his face lax and his seemingly permanent smirk flattened. He became a man who didn't care, empty and unresponsive, reminiscent of the man who had beat upon some local vigilantes in the street one night as part of his violent revenge. He became X5-494. A soldier. A killer. Alec darted down streets wet by rain, small puddles collecting in the numerous potholes in the ageing roads, the multi-coloured sky reflecting in their shallow depths. Behind him, the setting sun was glowing red as it acquired the threatening colour of Mars, presaging the imminence of war. 


	4. Reunion

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER FOUR – REUNION 

Alec pulled himself out of bed with a groan and walked wearily to the mirror on the wall, inspecting the reflection of a man with dishevelled hair, dark circles below his eyes and the spatterings of facial hair on his face. "Not looking to great their old man", Alec sighed to himself in the mirror. It had been 5 weeks since he began his assignment and Alec was beginning to feel as though it was going nowhere. He had found no evidence implicating Reverend Caldwell with White's actions and aside from assisting some transgenics that the Reverend's gang had been on to, Alec had pretty much sat around twiddling his thumbs. 

The Coalition for a Transgenic Free State was pretty much unsuccessful in their attempts at anything. Alec threw some clothes onto the bed and smiled. The Reverend was a sad-ass excuse for an enemy. The guy was as slow as he was naïve, and as disorganised as Joshua's apartment at TC. Nonetheless, Alec dutifully carried out his mission, spying on the group, instigating sabotage from within the group, and reporting his actions to Logan, who relayed them to Max. 

Max. It had been over a month since Alec had last seen her, and despite his measurable attempts to deny it, he actually found himself missing her. Whether it was while he was stealing a painting or installing new parts to his motorcycle, he thought of her. Sometimes when he would come home late at night he would half expect her to be there, asking for his help, threatening to kick his ass or dropping by with pasties from Little Debbie's. Like the old days. 

He often found himself missing the old days too. When he was only required to help save the Transgenic Of the Week with a sarcastic smile and comment and then spend the rest of his evening at Crash hitting on the ladies or giving Max grief. Things were so different now. His friends were being hunted and killed and he was their last hope, a known screw-up struggling to assume an identity far too similar to his mission requirements at Manticore and failing miserably to get any closer to White and his whereabouts, or his master plan. 

He sighed again as he dressed, pulling on a pair of acid-wash jeans, a dark green shirt that had some sort of brand stamped across the front and his leather jacket tiredly.

"Hi ho, hi ho, off to work I go…" Alec quipped to his empty house as he headed around the back to his motorcycle. 

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The building that housed CTFS was large and conspicuous and paraded as a 'Transgenic Information and Enquiry Office' for concerned citizens of the US and seemingly insurmountable streams of Asian and European tourists who flooded the city in search of 'transgenics', hoping to get a peek at their hideously deformed faces and super-human abilities. A small souvenir shop operated from the first floor, as did a café somewhat tackily named 'Chow-abunga – The Food Of Freaks'. The next few levels were home to a museum featuring a 'layout' and supposed satellite photos of the original Manticore site, photographs of alleged transgenics, 'victim's' stories, information about DNA and gene-splicing, and a history of genetic engineering dating back to pre-pulse genetic modification of food, with one particular exhibit dedicated to the Colorado Genetically-Modified Apple Tragedy of 2008. Alec generally laughed at most of the fabricated tourist-catching blather, except of course for the GM Apple situation, he had heard that some men had been born impotent, and that was just wrong. The remaining top floors were used as interview rooms for people to tell their stories to reporters from the CTFS newspaper 'Watchtower', as the Reverend's public offices and as a chapel reserved especially for praying to rid America of trannies. 

But it was from the sub-levels of TIEO that Alec operated. Far beneath the public façade of assistance, aid and religious care, Terry Caldwell played a dangerous game with the streets. The whole city knew about it, but no-one ever spoke of it. Except for a few Eyes Only hacks, an unspoken rule of silence was in place regarding the Reverend's operations. They mightn't be working for White, but they were in the business of murder. Alec did what he could to assist the targeted transgenics, but it was impossible to save them all. Casualties of war. Alec shivered involuntarily as he entered the large building. 

A bubbly red-headed receptionist greeted him as he entered the building and walked past the information desk. "Good morning Mr Smart" she beamed at him, pushing her chest in his direction obviously. 

"Morning Grill" he winked at her "How's it?" 

"All good", she replied with a bounce. He stepped into the elevators, Grill's gaze following him as the doors closed. Alec grinned to himself. She so wanted him. 

Alec's 'office' was segmented from his co-workers' by broken crates and cardboard box dividers. The walls were devoid of paint or decoration, there were suspicious stains and smells wafting about the damp lower-levels and except for the state-of-the-art tech supplies, the room looked like it was something from the days long before the pulse, long before the 21st century. Alec was head of the LAD team, or the Locate and Disable team of the Coalition. It was his job to track down transgenics and stop them from harming other citizens of Seattle. At Manticore, they had a unit just like it. It was called Search and Destroy. "Hey Alec!" Alec's attention was drawn to the far side of the room by the boom of Frell's forceful voice. 

Frell was a tiny man, about half Alec's height, and easily half his weight. From his appearance, it was difficult to believe that such a fragile vessel was home to such a strong voice. "Alec, the big man wants to see us" 

"Huh?" Alec stared blankly. He had been lost in thought, a place that had once seemed unfamiliar territory, but was now where Alec spent most of his time. 

"The Reverend? Ya know, the man in charge?" 

"Yeah" Alec drawled a response. Spinning around on one foot, Alec headed back out to the elevators. 

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The Reverend's office was large and spacious, lusciously decorated and a far cry from Alec's corner in the basement. A large exquisitely carved wooden crucifix hung above the office desk on the wall, and various other articles of religious paraphernalia were dotted about the place. Hypocritical, Alec thought, but funny that he can maintain the façade. Alec stood in front of the desk, one hand hooked casually through the belt loop on his jeans, the other rubbing his hair tiredly. Frell stood at attention beside him, his body taut, his concentration focused. Alec stifled an internal, cynical laugh. They hate transgenics, and yet here they were, acting just like transgenics were trained too. The Reverend turned to face them, his expression stern. 

Terri Caldwell's voice was calm and even. He spoke softly, but firmly and with perfect privileged-life pronunciation. His tone reminded Alec of the one Agent Sandoval might have used some years ago. It also reminded him of the psychopath's voice from that pre-pulse film The Silence Of The Lambs. "Boys, boys, boys, you know I've been happy with your work lately, but I'm afraid there has been a mistake." 

Alec's heart stopped. For a few seconds, the only thing he could hear was the sudden shallowness of his breath. In times of inescapable threat, the X5's had been trained to almost shut down their systems to minimum requirements. Say for example a Russian team were closing in, and Alec's unit was cornered, he would stop breathing heavy, his heart would slow to an almost standstill, his body wouldn't move, his temperature would drop. It wasn't instinct but it had been drilled into him from the moment of his birth, so you could call it indoctrination, but whatever it was, it kicked in unwillingly as the Reverend spoke and Alec became a living statue. Frell noticed the change in his comrade almost instantly. "Alec, hey Alec, you alright?" Alec didn't answer. All he could hear was the blood rushing past his ears at it migrated south for the winter. Frell turned his attention back toward the Reverend, swallowing his nerves. "What kind of a problem, sir?" 

Terry Caldwell adjusted his tie before he spoke. "Last week, you boys were tracking that goo thingy through the sewers… it and an X-series soldier…" Frell nodded his answer, but Alec stared straight ahead. He couldn't move. He tried to open his mouth, but it seemed as though his muscles were unresponsive. "And we know that there were civilian casualties during the operation…" 

"Yes sir…" Frell once again answered for them both. 

"Well, that Eyes Only jerk has the public believing that it was our fault, like you boys stirred them up or something, made them attack, that sort of thing…" 

The colour began to return to Alec's face. His fingers curled as he regained the use of his body. He hadn't been found out. His cover wasn't compromised. His heart began to beat faster, Alec exhaled. 

"And now…" the Reverend continued "The families are filing a civil suit against our organization. We will, of course, deny all involvement in the situation, you boys were just acting on your own free will, no orders were given…" 

Frell interjected "But sir…?"

The Reverends voice fell sharp into a tense room, his tone rising as he stared down the young man who dared oppose him. "You knew the risks involved…" Frell's defiance died. 

Alec turned his head slowly in the direction of the door. His senses had suddenly gone from almost non-existent to high-alert. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he had to fight back a low purr rising in his throat. His hands clenched beside him, and he felt a ripple spread through the muscles in his body. He could feel… a presence. And he registered a strangely familiar, but equally unknown scent. But more than that, on some higher consciousness of being, beyond the limits of even his genetically enhanced senses, he knew what was approaching. Alec felt the blood rush to his nether regions instantaneously, and the strangled purr escaped from him, surprising the two men beside him. 

Terry Caldwell continued, an eyebrow raised quizzically in Alec's direction. "However, a slur on your team will undoubtedly mean a slur on us, therefore I have brought in one of the finest attorneys in Seattle… 

As if in response to a pre-written cue, the large wooden doors to the Reverend's office were pushed open and Alec found himself staring into the dark, compelling green eyes of a woman he thought he would never see again… 

"My god-daughter, Antigone…" 

Her eyes met his and in an instant the room felt like liquid fire. Memories rushed back to her, a thousand thoughts raced through her head. There were a million things she needed to say, but only one came out. 

"Oh my god…"


	5. Instincts and Urges

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This chapter contains some smut, not overtly graphic, but it might not be to everyone's taste, so I've popped it onto a different page. It's not 100% necessary, so if you don't read it you can still follow the storyline.

CHAPTER FIVE – INSTINCTS AND URGES 

She sat across from him, twirling a pencil around in her hands. He watched her, as if mesmerized by the graceful movement as she turned it over in her gentle, smooth hands. Alec remembered a time when those hands had traced the muscular curves of his back, their fingertips indenting his flesh as her incandescent eyes closed in ecstasy, and could still feel them resting tenderly over his heart as they both drifted into peaceful, blissful sleep. Beside him, Frell was relaying the details of the case, talking hurriedly and defensively as he explained how a Gossamer and an X7 attacked several civilians whilst the LAD team were in pursuit. But Alec was oblivious to the drama unfolding, he sat entranced by the woman with the emerald coloured eyes, a woman who used to be a nameless memory, but who he now knew as Antigone McKinley, Terry Caldwell's god-daughter. He knew she was the enemy, he knew she thought he was a man and not a transgenic, he knew he was living a lie, but he wanted this woman like he had wanted no other, and he also knew that he usually got what he wanted. 

She felt his eyes on her, just as she had that night at the bar. The feeling made her skin itch to be touched by him and him alone, Alec, the guy with the dancing hazel eyes and soft, southern drawl. Her senses were heightened and she seemed to be aware of every inch of him in the room. She could smell him, hear him as he shifted in his seat, and feel the warmth radiating from his body. If it hadn't been for the large wooden desk between them, she would have jumped him right then and there, even with a Reverend watching. Her body wanted him, but her mind tried to reason with it. He worked for her uncle's best friend, he was a thug for hire, and he probably didn't even own a suit, but her compulsion and desire overruled her common sense, and she unwittingly licked her lips in anticipation. 

Alec's body responded instinctively as he watched her tongue caress her soft, sensuous lips and an undulation of lust surged through his body and finished at a place that was completely inappropriate considering he was in the presence of both his boss and his colleague. Damn, Alec wished they weren't around, and it was just Antigone and himself and the desk that currently separated them. He imagined taking her on it, her hands running through his hair as he licked the soft flesh around her nipples… 

Alec groaned loudly, and was suddenly met with the quizzical gaze of Terry and Frell. "Alec? Are you okay?" Frell asked the question slowly and carefully, searching his eyes for an answer. "Because if we're boring you Smart…" Terry added, his even, unnerving voice laced with sarcasm. Alec glanced quickly at Antigone, who seemed busy scribbling notes on her jotter, her hand resting on her forehead, shielding her eyes from his line of sight. Beneath it, he thought he saw her blushing. 

Alec removed his jacket hastily and held it in front of the distension that had developed in his jeans. He answered the two men quickly and reassuringly, "No, I'm fine, I just…" he glanced at Antigone again just as she began chewing the end of her pencil… "I really need to get out of here…" Alec walked hastily to the door and without looking back, clicked it closed behind him. 

She watched him leave and a wave of relief flooded through her and yet at the same time she was slightly disappointed. His mere presence had sent her whole world into a spiral. She was inundated with the memories of their one night together; the steadiness of his heartbeat, his strength and tenderness, his hands stroking her back, stomach and inner thighs, the power when he entered her and the indescribable release as she climaxed again and again… As she inhaled sharply, Antigone was stirred from her memories and swiftly made aware of Frell and Terry gaping at her open-mouthed. Her face flushed, she closed her folder and stood abruptly. "Thanks, I think that's enough…" She gave a half-smile to the two men as she almost ran out the door, leaving them bewildered in the office. Terry raised an eyebrow in question at Frell. "What just happened…?" 

Antigone caught up with Alec waiting impatiently at the elevators. He was shifting nervously from one foot to the other, and he seemed lost in deep and lustful thoughts. She came up to him, keeping her distance, and almost panted "We need to talk…" 

Alec breathed in her scent and his resolve went into turmoil. 

He was the first to close the distance between them. He moved toward her, their bodies only inches from each other, and, gripping her hips firmly, directed her backwards into the elevator just as it arrived and the doors sprung open. A Russian couple exited, their eyes quickly averting from the scene before them. 

He pushed her against the cold metal of the elevator sides, her hands flailing to hit the button to close the doors as her hips throbbed against him. Alec gasped and the doors slid shut. 

Badly written smut not necessary to storyline

They laid down together on the ground, Antigone resting on top, her face nestled into the nape of Alec's neck, her hand affectionately over his heart. "I'm glad we talked about…" he murmured with a smile as he kissed her hair lightly and her unforgettable eyes slowly closed. Alec stayed within her, and as they drifted off into an exhausted sleep, he felt a strange sensation, like he was safe, protected and at ease, like he was… home.


	6. Cold

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER SIX - COLD 

The warm sun licked Antigone's back as it filtered through a small ventilation window in the kitchen. She stretched dreamily, feeling Alec's warmth beneath her. Suddenly she was made aware of her surroundings, and the memories of the night before swamped her. 

She got up hurriedly but carefully so as to avoid waking the sleeping man under her. She frantically searched the room for her clothes, pulling them on, covering her exposed body. She heard Alec stretch and move and her actions grew more desperate. 

"Antigone…" Alec yawned her name. She spun around to confront him, her face flushed. "What?" her answer was brusque and harsh. Alec almost winced against her reaction, but stood so that their eyes were level. "What are you doing?" he furrowed his brows in question, raising one slightly. She avoided his eyes. 

"It's Sunday, I have to go to church…" Alec walked over to her, stalking her like prey and she was swiftly aware of his nakedness. His hand traced up her arm, and he kissed the nape of her neck, speaking against her skin. "Church…? " 

Despite the small fire building inside of her, Antigone shrugged off Alec's touch, pushing past him on her way to the door. "I have to go…" Alec's expression contorted in confusion. "Antigone…?" but she was gone, and Alec was left standing naked in the kitchen of the coffee-shop, his thoughts quizzical. 

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She walked purposely down the street to her car, one hand clasping her gaping blouse closed, the other fumbling in her bag for her car keys. She had to get out of there, away from the coffee shop and away from him. As passers-by exchanged curious glances, the cold Seattle wind played about her face and her dark hair blew carelessly across her tear stained cheeks. Why was she so weak? Why did she always give in? Why hadn't she just stayed in the damn office instead of going after him? She scrabbled her keys into the lock, pulling the door open with a force formed from and internal anger at her own failings. She slammed it shut with equal intensity and sat still in her car for a moment before thumping her hands against the steering wheel. At that, she broke down; sobs racking her body as tears flowed uninhibitedly down her graceful face. 

Alec stood absolutely still, his mind searching the events of last night, trying to identify one that could have possibly led to her reaction this morning. A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Hell, he though it had gone superbly. He had never really understood women, and he was quite convinced that they were altogether and entirely different specie. But normally it wouldn't have bothered him if his Miss Tonight left just as he was waking up, in actual fact it was usually he who left first. 

But there was something different about this girl that made him want to be with her constantly, just in her mere presence. He knew what it was instinctively; he was certain of that, but was never able to define it, to name it, to say it out loud. Like a memory locked in the back of his consciousness, it was there, he just had no way of reaching it. It was something ethereal and intangible but very real at the same time. Whatever it was, it haunted him, and he was certain he wouldn't rest until he discovered it. 

The only obstacle that seemed to be in the way was her increasingly odd behaviour and inconsistency, an obstacle he was quite sure could be overcome if he used the right angle. Alec knew just what approach to take. 

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Alec sauntered into TIEO with a wry grin and confident stride. Grill batted her eyelids at him becomingly, and Alec's smile broadened. He winked at her suggestively and she giggled. Frell approached him from the café, a smile spreading across his young, rugged face. "Ain't they the same clothes you left in yesterday?" He questioned in his baritone voice. Alec's grin lit up his whole face. "Yeah" Alec replied insinuatingly and Frell laughed as they exchanged a complicated male handshake. 

Grill watched admiringly from her spot behind the service desk, her eyes glinting mischievously. 

"C'mon buddy I'm sure we can rustle up some work do…" Alec drawled as he slapped Frell on the back and they headed to the elevators. As the doors opened Alec came face to face with Antigone and his heart skipped a beat. Recomposing himself, he smiled broadly and stepped into the elevator, Frell close behind him. 

He reached slowly and deliberately in front of her. "Going up?" he asked, that characteristic smile tugging playfully at the corners of his mouth. She nodded nervously as Alec eyed the spot on the wall where he had her pinned the day before. Her eyes were also drawn to that infamous spot and she blushed involuntarily. Frell laughed as he sensed the tension between, knowing instantly that the lawyer was the reason Alec was wearing yesterday's clothes to work. 

Antigone spun accusingly to Frell, whose smile was wiped from his face by the dominating look she shot him. Her eyes narrowed as she turned her attention to Alec, who looked innocently at her, a smile fixed on his face and his eyes large with feigned virtue. She turned away from him in a huff, and Alec stifled a chuckle. 

The doors opened once again, and as Alec moved past Antigone he pinched her bottom, sending her hands flailing in a desperate attempt to hit him. Just as her fist was about to make contact, Terry Caldwell and Senator McKinley came into view. Alec grinned triumphantly as she hissed at him "Asshole…" 

Within an instant her expression had changed. A desperately false smile crossed her lovely features as she greeted the two men. "Reverend, Uncle…" Alec eyes grew wide with genuine surprise. The Senator was her _uncle_? 

"Smart, Fisher, I'd like you to meet Senator James McKinley, Chairman of the congressional taskforce on the transgenic threat." Alec swallowed nervously, but maintained his cover. "Pleasure to meet you, Senator…" they shook hands, the Senator's were cold and dank, Alec noted, but his grip was firm. 

"I've heard you boys have been in a spot of trouble lately…" The Senator broached the issue they all knew was hanging over them. Alec opened his mouth to speak, but Antigone interjected. 

"Actually that's what I'm here for… I've spoken to my team and it is the general consensus that both Mr Fisher here and Mr Smart…" she glanced in Alec's direction and he licked his lips suggestively. She turned back to the two older men. "…be taken off field duties for a time." 

Frell was taken aback. "You mean fire us?" Antigone flashed him a showy smile and continued in her professional lawyer-voice. 

"No, that could be taken as an admission of guilt on our behalf, I simply mean making sure that your activities are more centrally located…" Frell looked at her blankly. 

Terry smiled and touched Antigone's shoulder in a fatherly manner. "I'm quite sure we could find them some duty around the TIEO…" he answered reassuringly, his comment directed pointedly at the Senator. 

The Senator seemed satisfied with this answer. Alec didn't. "Like what?" He asked bluntly. 

************************************************************ 

Six pairs of glassy eyes bobbed up and down as he shook his head in disgust. The large overtly tacky cap he was required to wear made the blow all that more harsh. Designed to resemble some horribly deformed mutant, it's dozen eyes and bright blue and green scales were an insult to even the ugliest 'nomlie. Alec glared from underneath its brim into the satisfied, conquering face of Antigone as he handed her a Spliced Gene Shake, his strong grip on the foam cup indenting the Chow-abunga logo printed on it. "Please visit again soon…" he strained the comment, his voice barely audible. As she leaned in to take the cup off him she whispered with a flick up of her eyebrows, "Don't worry, I will…" before striding confidently away. As she reached the exit, she turned back to him. "By the way… nice hat" Her triumphant chuckle echoing down the hall as she left. 

************************************************************ 

Logan sat staring at his computer mindlessly. He had been doing something earlier, but he had forgotten what it was. He was so lost, purposeless in a tumultuous world. His days seemed to drift in and out of a monotonous oblivion, his actions mechanical, his life reduced to a perfunctory obligation. He heard the door open in the other room, heard his voice call out the same greeting. "Alec, is that you?" Who else would it be. Alec entered the room with a scowl, and Logan was momentarily taken aback by his appearance. 

He was wearing a bright blue and green shirt, with the outlines of scales in yellow traced across it and holding in his hand a cap that Logan thought had… eyes? Logan opened his mouth to say something, but Alec cut him off. "Don't say it…" 

Logan smiled, the small promise of a laugh at Alec's expense giving him momentary purpose. "Nice hat…" Alec's black look cut him off. Logan chuckled. 

"So I was talking to Max today…" Logan spoke without looking away from his computer screen, although he didn't seem to be working on anything. Alec wondered why. "…she asked how you were, I said you were doing fine." Alec nodded slowly and raised his eyebrows in approval. 

"Anything new happening at TC?" he asked offhandedly, although he cared about the answer more than he wanted to. 

"A few new X's have shown up, not much else happening. Military security on the perimeter has been stepped up though. It's a lot harder to get in and out of there." 

Alec rubbed his index finger along his lower lip thoughtfully. "They're preparing for something…" 

"I don't think so Alec, I'm quite sure it's just due to public reactions…" 

Alec looked at Logan incredulously. "Trust me Logan, I'm sort of an expert when it comes to covert military operations, you know, seeing as how I was raised and indoctrinated by one for the first 20 years of my life" Alec finished with a shrug, opening his palms and wagging his eyebrows. 

Logan ignored the sarcasm in Alec's voice, and changed the subject. I haven't had a chance to review the surveillance tapes from these last couple of days…" 

Alec glanced at Logan's blank screen. "Yeah, looks like you've been real busy…" 

Logan continued as if he didn't even realize that Alec had spoken. "…but I'll let you know if I turn anything up." 

"Again Logan, trust me, nothing went down, I was there remember, I'd notice." 

Once more Logan ignored Alec's remark. "Just in case you missed something…" 

Alec grimaced. "Whatever…" he half saluted mockingly as he left. Logan still sat at his screen, staring. 

************************************************************ 

Something about Logan had been bothering Alec lately. Well, bothering him more than usual anyway. There was just something… not right about him and it disturbed Alec that he had to place such a level of trust in man who seemed increasingly unhinged. He climbed onto his motorcycle, ruffling a hand through his hair. 

Everything was confusing him lately, it was like he couldn't make sense of the world anymore, what was real, what was fabricated as part of his cover, or what was just his own intimate feelings. He couldn't understand why Antigone had acted the way she had, so… ashamed? Guilty? And he didn't know why Logan retreated into a delusional world, endangering Alec's life, endangering all their lives. 

Alec sighed at the moon, a lone sailor of the black night, and sped away into the streets of Seattle, the darkness closing in around him, his mind awash with thoughts he couldn't rationalize or explain away. 

It was times like these that Alec missed Manticore. Life had been so black and white. Follow orders, train, do your duty. Everything had made sense there... 


	7. Dark

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER SEVEN – DARK 

He felt his eyelids falling involuntarily closed, the delicate shutters closing slowly over the windows to his soul. He felt all life ebbing away from him, his body grew heavy, and he found it difficult to move. His energy was expended, his effort spent. There was nothing more he could do. It was over. 

Alec was bored. He rested leaning on the counter of Chow-abunga, his chin cradled in one hand, with the other holding his position on the counter. Despite all his efforts to stay awake, the ennui took hold, and he was losing the fight to stay awake. He had been working the counters at Chow now for just over three weeks and the endless monotony was slowly driving him mad. Forget Psy-ops, forget Manticore's torture, fast food was absolute hell. Alec knew that Antigone was deliberately drawing out the civil trial just so that he would have to stay base-bound at the café longer than he really needed to. 

Alec furrowed his brow in frustration. At the moment exactly three brunettes were driving him crazy. Rachel, the ghost of his first love whom he would never forget, Max, the family he never wanted but was realizing he couldn't live without, and Antigone, the taciturn enigma with the most incredible green eyes he had ever seen. Alec sighed. 

He didn't understand Antigone, he didn't know why she had turned away from him after they had been so intimate, after they connected. He wanted to know everything about her, but she was so cold to him, distant. And the whole people thing, like connecting with people, especially with women, on a level that wasn't physical or a superficial cocky smile and smart-ass remark, was hard for Alec. His initial reaction to Antigone's distance had been to play her; to play the cocky charmer, to win her back. But it was harder than he thought it would be - she had ended up playing him, and now here he was, flipping burgers at a fast food place designed to ridicule his people. Alec grimaced. 

"One Toxic Waste Shake!" Frell's voice boomed from the kitchen. "Alec!…" Alec was stirred from his reverie by the rumble of Frell's powerful voice. 

"Whatever…" Alec rolled his eyes. It was going to be another long day. 

************************************************************ 

Antigone stacked her papers neatly in front of her in a methodical and repeated fashion. She smiled mutedly, vaguely satisfied with her accomplishment. The case was over, and they had won. She stood and turned, not looking at the faces of the victim's relatives and friends. Their cries of injustice were drowned out as she walked purposely out the door, her high heels clicking on the polished floor, their eerie resonance resembling the sounds of empty shrapnel shells falling wretchedly to the ground after gunfire. She had done her duty. 

************************************************************ 

It was dark – so dark, where Alec was. He could feel an unsettling dampness around him and like a shadow it licked at his being, percolating his skin, seeping into his very soul. He tried to gasp, but he wasn't breathing. God, he wasn't breathing. It was so quiet without his breathing… without his heartbeat. He tried to move, but his body was restricted somehow. No, it wasn't restricted, it just wouldn't move. Alec closed his eyes, attempting to will himself to budge. But his eyes were already closed, and no matter how hard he tried, he remained motionless. It was so dark. Where was he? 

Alec awoke with a start, sitting up quickly he breathed deeply, inhaling precious life into his lungs. It felt so good to breathe, and yet, he had never stopped. He had been dreaming. He ran a hand through soft brown hair, his eyes darting about his surroundings. He was in Chow-abunga. He had fallen asleep. It was okay. 

"Alec!…" Frell yelled at Alec over the sound of the dishwasher. "You haven't fallen asleep out there have you? You're supposed to be sweeping" 

"No buddy, not sleeping, just resting my eyes for a bit!" Alec called back, a hint of joviality in his voice, as he tried to push the last remnants of the dream from his mind. 

"Rest your eyes on that dirty floor pal!" Frell's cavernous voice boomed through the dying light of day. 

Alec chuckled. He liked Frell. The poor boy was slightly deluded in his Transgenic beliefs, but hey, weren't most people these days? They lived in tumultuous times, and in such chaos people often sought order. For Frell, CTFS was that order, the regularity in an irregular world. They told him how to act, when to act and with how much force. He didn't need to decide. He didn't need to question what was right or wrong, he just acted, and that made his life simple, planned and, ultimately, beyond his control. But he was funny and sincere, and, although Alec would be hard pressed to admit it, one of the only real friends he had ever made. But then again, Frell wasn't a real friend. He didn't know Alec. He knew an illusion, a farce, a charade. Alec's smile dimmed, but remained on his young face, as it always had, and always would. 

"I don't hear the sound of sweeping…" Frell chastised and Alec responded jokingly. 

"You'll hear the sound of my left hook connecting with your jaw if you don't pipe down little man!" 

"I'd like to see you have a shot!" 

Alec laughed as he picked up the broom, sweeping away the days dirt on the ground, blindly hoping that his pensive mood would be swept clear of his mind in unison with the grime of the café. Yet he could not shake the lingering feeling of disconcert and ominous fear that arose from his nightmare and that had fastened itself to Alec's thoughts, and seemed to have a powerful seize on his heart. A feeling that only grew in intensity as he looked to the kitchen in Frell's direction. Something very bad was going to happen very soon. 

************************************************************ 

The moon shone with an intensity and clarity over Seattle that night that was rare for this time of year. Typically, clouds would have overshadowed its brilliance, obscuring its soft beauty from sight. Yet the sky was clear. The moon was burnished, bold, a valiant sentinel of humanity's darkest hours. 

Alec stirred in bed. He felt a disturbance that formed a feeling of ambiguity within him. It wasn't his advanced genetics or highly attuned sense that picked it up, but something else. An intuition that Alec had been experiencing for quite some time now but still could not explain. It was as if it was greater than himself, greater than the way he was made. He knew she was waiting for him. 

Antigone approached Alec's apartment slowly, calculated, her heartbeat so loud it seemed as if it was reverberating inside of, rumbling off the sides of her body and resounding in her mind in clear, steady hammerings. She was unwittingly holding her breath. With each step she took, with each passing moment, she grew more nervous and she considered turning back. But she was so lonely, so lost, and she couldn't turn back, not even if she tried. Her feet kept moving, her heart urging her feet ahead in beat with its resonance, propelling her forward, carrying her onwards; her heart knew what she wanted even though her mind didn't. As she approached his door, it opened, and he turned slowly to face her, a seemingly vast distance between them. His eyes met hers and they stared into each other's soul portals for what seemed like an eternity. Alec was the first to move. He reached for her slowly, gently, the primeval passion he had displayed several weeks ago absent, and all that remained was a soft, reassuring presence. Without thought, without hesitation, she held his hand, her petite white hands inside his large palms. Unconsciously, iridescent tears began to fall softly down her cheeks. 

Alec was perplexed. He didn't know why Antigone was upset, why she had turned up to his door at 2am in the morning, why rich salty tears bled down her perfect features, and like himself, her face wasn't easily readable, so he turned to her eyes, those deep, forest-green eyes that glittered with the intensity of the stars and the determination of the summer breeze that lingers as Autumn advances. They were deep and sorrowful, and for a brief moment Alec could see the world reflected in them, could see the pains of her people mirrored in those unfathomable, archaic eyes. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt as though she held the all the suffering of humankind within her, and he cried too. 

She cried into his shoulder as he held her tightly, as if he was afraid of losing her, her fingers gripping his shirt with equal intensity. "Alec…" her voice was choked into a sob. 

"Shh…" he calmed her, stroking her hair gently. "What's wrong…?" 

"Alec…" she choked back her grief. She tried to speak, but her voice croaked. 

"Don't worry… you don't have to explain" Alec tried to fight back his own silent tears, trying to be the brave one, the strong one, like he had always been. And he would be, she needed him to be. 

Some time later, they went into his apartment, he sat lightly next to her on his sofa, she leant on him tentatively. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you…" She apologised weakly with a half smile. 

"I don't sleep well…" Alec looked away from her, his eyes to the floor. He felt that if she looked into his eyes, she might know the reason for his sleeplessness. 

"Do you ever feel guilty, Alec?" 

Alec's breath caught in his throat. Did she know? But how could she? He had been so careful, he had built the protective walls around himself, and he had assumed the charade. He suddenly felt like his whole world was going to end. Of all the people he had met, all the people he had murdered and all their families, all his friends, her opinion was the one that mattered most to him. And he couldn't bear to consider that she knew he was a killer. He swallowed, his breath shallowing, his body stiffening. "Guilty…?" 

"About the transgenics… that you've… that you've…" 

A flood of relief washed over him, intermingled with a strange sense of incongruous mockery. She asked if he was guilty about killing transgenics, his own people, and the very people he was endeavouring to save, when really he had killed her people… 

"That the team has pursued…?" He finished her sentence delicately. 

She looked into his eyes and he looked to the floor. "No Alec… that you've killed." 

Her voice held no judgement, no emotion. It was a flat question. 

"No I don't." He answered bluntly. He hadn't lied. He'd never killed another transgenic. Not even at Manticore. Not ever. So he didn't feel guilty. But he knew she would see through him, so he put up his soldier face, the face of a killer. 

"It's that easy…? To just _not feel_…?" She tried to search his face, but it was blank, but his eyes betrayed something, something that frightened her. 

"Sometimes it's easier not to feel…" His eyes flitted away from hers. "Than to think about the things that you've done…" 

She nodded slowly. 

"What's wrong Antigone…?" He still wouldn't look her in the eyes. 

"I hate transgenics…" She tried to sound vehement, but her voice broke. "At the trial… transgenics supporters, and even the victims' families, they said, they said things about what the Coalition does… with the transgenics… once they've been…" 

Alec turned back to her, his curiosity sickeningly peaked. He knew not of the rumours. "Disabled…?" he hurried her sentences along, suddenly desperate to discover the secret. 

"They said stuff about tests and torture… about… futility, about how the victims from last months raid died just so that… just so that the transgenics could be made to suffer…" 

Alec swallowed again. "Suffer for what?" 

"For existing…" 

He turned to look her in the eyes and found them clouded with sadness, a deep sadness that seemed to adhere to every degree of her being like and insidious shadow. 

"I loved someone once…" She began softly, slowly, rolling each word over in her mouth so they came out perfectly shaped, perfectly formed as one long cylinder of sorrow, a gaping hole through the middle where love should have subsisted. 

Alec was a little stunned by this revelation and the sudden change in topic, but realised that it all formed a regulated flow within Antigone, each topic linking to last, so he listened and he waited for the revelation he knew would soon come. 

"Roland. He was so light and beautiful, always smiling a warm, infectious smile…" Antigone paused. 

Alec's thoughts drifted to the counterfeit grin he often assumed and he shuddered involuntarily. 

"He was a few years older than me, and a lawyer, he did pro-bono family law, to help the kids." She smiled quietly in remembrance. "He was a poet… he had a pure soul…" Tears began to flow uninhibited down her cheeks. "He was a gentle, compassionate man… One day he brought home one of his clients, a child who had nobody…" Her voice came out in racked sobs. "…Who had been arrested for trying to steal a car… He was only nine years old… He taught him how to play football… they went to hockey games together…" She broke down. 

Alec watched her face. Watched the wretchedness in her dark eyes. Watched as she brought her hand to her mouth, trying to stop whatever it was she was saying from coming out. But she continued, and he looked away from her, unable to stand the pain of looking into her distraught face. 

"It was a while before we noticed the barcode…" 

Alec's eyes darted back to her. 

"Roland started to ask questions in law circles, asking the police, the sector cops, if they knew what it meant… the kid found out… Just before the whole thing became public, the kid panicked… or maybe that's just what he was made to do… to kill…" She looked back into Alec's eyes, who tried to keep his emotion from them. "But they found Roland the day the kid disappeared, with hockey tickets in his pocket, tucked safely away with an engagement ring…" Her sobs grew more desperate. "He was dead. My beautiful Roland was dead. They said whoever killed him had to have been strong… really strong, too strong… for a human. So now here I am, doing my duty, duty to my uncle, and to Roland." She blinked away tears brewing beneath her lashes and palmed the tears from her cheeks. "I hate transgenics…" She said again, not sure if she was trying to convince Alec or herself. "They deserve to die…" 

Alec cast his eyes to the ground and then spoke softly, only just above a whisper. 

"Yeah… they do" 


	8. Unchanged

Thanks for the reviews guys, plz keep 'em coming, they are like air to me...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER EIGHT – UNCHANGED

Alec's body was stiff. His joints throbbed but wouldn't move and the silence closed in around him like a malevolent presence. He longed to draw breath inside his aching body but it was if he was unable. He lay absolutely still, unmoving, not breathing, his heart not beating, a tomb of dampness and darkness encircling him. Is this what eternity was going to be like?

Alec woke jolted from the familiar dream. Something about it disturbed him beyond the borders of one of his regular dreams, and it sent a chill flooding down his spine, a chill that attached itself to his thoughts and wouldn't disengage. He stirred; relieved to find that he could in fact move all of his limbs and he drew in a deep, long breath.

He heard her stir in his bedroom. He had slept on the couch last night, given her his bed. He didn't know why, but it had seemed the proper thing to do. Heh! Proper! Alec thought about their time together several weeks ago in the coffee shop.

Antigone lay in his bed for a while before she dared stir. She breathed in the scent of him all around her and it made her feel so safe and warm. She didn't want to get out of bed that morning, or any other morning for that matter. She wanted to stay here forever. Her thoughts flickered back to last night. She was so embarrassed and ashamed for having showed her weaknesses to Alec, a man she hardly knew. Her uncle had raised her to be strong, telling her that emotions were weaknesses that restricted humanity's ability to advance. And yet she had poured her heart out last night to Alec in a flood of tears she felt would never end. And now she regretted it with equivalent intensity.

Suddenly, Alec appeared in the doorway, his body propped against the doorframe, an unsteady smile on his face. He seemed nervous. "Mornin'…"

"Hey…" Antigone greeted him back.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, thanks for the bed…"

Alec's smile softened as he watched her in his bed, hair disheveled and sleeping in one of his T-Shirts. On any other occasion, this would have turned him on, but there was an air of mourning about and she was so sad and fragile that he was afraid that if he touched her, she might shatter into a thousand irreparable pieces.

Antigone noticed his smile deepen and it touched her heart. He was so genuine sometimes, like an open book, so innocent, as if he was seeing the world for the first time. At other times though he was completely opposite, a dark cloud of enigmatic turmoil, his face a concert of mixed emotions, impossible to read. It was at these times that she was sure he had seen every kind of misery there was to experience in life, and been to the depths of a shadowy torment and back again.

"Heard you dreaming last night…"

The statement shocked Alec.

"Yeah, I told you I don't sleep well…" The warmth in his smile faded quickly, but he maintained eye contact.

Antigone spoke softly and gentle, she had sensed a change within him and didn't want to upset him further.

"Who's Rachel?"

Alec's breath caught in his throat at the question.

Antigone caught the movement in Alec's eyes, the… guilt?

"We've all lost people that we've loved…"

A deep sadness emanated from Alec and Antigone winced against his pain. Yet intermingled with his sorrow she could discern a heavy blanket of guilt.

"A transgenic killed her…?" the question was more of a statement than anything, Antigone felt she already knew the answer.

Alec cast his eyes to the floor. Antigone thought she saw a single tear slip from those beautiful hazel eyes. He was silent for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was no more than a hoarse whisper, an elongated sound that mirrored all his emotions, rich with pain and sodden with a deep sadness.

"Yeah…"

Antigone never asked about Rachel again.

************************************************************

Max had tried hard not to admit that she missed Alec. Whenever she was confronted she would deny it profusely, even going so far as to tell Dix that she would relocate his testicles (that was assuming Manticore had mixed them into his disfigured genetic cocktail) if he continued to harass her about it. The truth was, she didn't want to miss Alec, but she did. The realization that Alec was important in her life disturbed her more than Logan's ambiguous phone call yesterday. It was about Alec, he had said, and it was bad news about Alec that he couldn't break over the phone, so Max had agreed to leave the sanctity of her radiation-ridden home to meet with Logan. That's why she was here this morning, wading through the sewer overflowing from the recent rains to Joshua's old house, to Logan and to news of Alec.

Her heart was racing. What if something had happened to Alec? She had only just discovered that she needed him, what if he was to leave her now? Max swallowed against the thought as she emerged into the unusually bright street outside of the house. It looked exactly the same. Everything around it had changed, including the chaotic world, and yet it remained, as always, a safe haven. Regularity in an unsure world. Firstly her creator had been there, he probably thought up her DNA structure right there in the living room. After him, Joshua had been there, Alec had once been there, and now Logan was there, waiting for her, thinking of her as all the occupants of the old house always had. Logan turned as he heard her open the door.

"Max is that you?" It was the same greeting, always the same greeting. She grimaced.

"Yeah" She appeared in the doorway. Logan sat at his computer, his hands resting limply in his lap, his eyes slightly glassy. Max noticed how small he looked, how frail he had become since the last time she had seen him in the flesh, as opposed to via streaming video.

"How've you been?" His voice was barely a whisper. 

"Good" She didn't look him in the eyes. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and she wondered what had him so… nervous?

"What is it?"

"Max…" Logan started slowly, his eyes slightly unfocused as he watched her face for a reaction. "It's about Alec…"

"Logan…" Max's voice was firm and directing. She just wanted him to get on with it. Her steady voice hid any trace of the fear that was eating at her heart.

Logan turned back to his computer and played around on the keyboard a bit, each tap on the key irritating Max more than the last. Suddenly the screen came to life. Max's eyes flicked as she recognized a figure in the video surveillance on the screen. It was Alec. He was standing at the entrance to an elevator. He looked nervous, his feet rolling onto their sides and then straightening, his hands in his jacket pockets. Max watched as a young woman approached him with steady, confident strides. 

Logan added commentary for effect. "That's Antigone McKinley, god-daughter of Terry Caldwell and the niece of Senator James McKinley." Max nodded. 

The girl, Antigone, remained some distance from Alec, her calm demeanor replaced by once as nervous as Alec's. He was the first to close the distance between them. He moved toward her, their bodies only inches from each other, and, gripping her hips firmly, directed her backwards into the elevator just as it arrived and the doors sprung open. A Russian couple exited, their eyes quickly averting from the scene before them.

Max took a sharp breath. Logan glanced at her quickly. "I think that Alec's position may have been compromised… I don't think he's able to perform his duties as a soldier any longer…"

"What are you getting at Logan?" Max snapped at him unwittingly.

"Max, not only is he cheating on you, he's doing it with the enemy… Antigone is a very well known anti-trangenic movement leader and a high-profile lawyer opposing all things transgenic. In addition to that, her family relations with the Senator and the Reverend automatically make her a threat to our cause."

Max turned to him slowly. "Logan, I think Alec knows what he is doing…"

"Max, he is CHEATING on you!" For the first time Logan's voice rose above the raspy whisper. "Don't you care?" Finally, his emotions erupted. "How could you be with him and not with me!"

"Of course I care! But I think the more important question here is has he been turned? Has he betrayed us? And me and you? I told you, it's over…"

Logan remained silent. Max seethed quietly.

After a long moment, Max finally spoke. "I'll have to make contact with him…"

Logan nodded, and Max turned and left the room.

************************************************************

The apartment looked the same. The same. But everything else had changed. It was funny how buildings – mere bricks and mortar, could remain, but people got swept away so fast, changed so suddenly. She stared up at it, contemplating going inside. 

She knew Alec wouldn't have betrayed the transgenics, but he had betrayed her. Or had he? They'd never really been together, she knew that, it was just a front for Logan, but somehow she felt… cheated. She wasn't sure if she loved Alec, but she depended on him. She depended on him to be hers and hers alone. He was there for her to ridicule, for her to love or hate, for her to help or for her to annoy. Alec had always been hers, he got a job at her workplace, hung out with her friends, and he never did anything on his own. He was her sidekick, her dependent. And now he wasn't. She was jealous, and she knew it.

As if on purpose, Alec walked out of the apartment building at that exact moment, followed closely by Antigone. Max seethed inside. He hopped onto his motorcycle, Antigone got into her car. She watched them exchange the clandestine smiles of secret lovers before they parted and she longed to share that smile with Alec. But she couldn't and she never would. She knew that. Still, she needed to talk to Alec, so she followed him from a distance, hoping to catch up with him before he arrived at TIEO.

************************************************************

Alec sensed he was being followed as he pulled his motorcycle to a stop a few blocks away from TIEO. He also sensed who it was that was following him. Why she had come here he didn't know. But he knew it was dangerous, and a sickening pit formed in his stomach as that ominous feeling returned to him.

"What do you want Max?" Alec's voice was steady, unwavering.

Max slowed her motorbike and stepped off it. "Logan thought I should make contact with you."

"So it was Logan's idea to risk exposing me… I should have guessed"

"Alec please… That girl…"

Alec turned to face Max at this.

"What do you know about it?"

"Surveillance, remember?"

Alec winced.

"You know that she's the Reverend's god-daughter and the Senator's niece, right?"

"Yeah"

"So you know she's the enemy…"

Alec was incredulous. "The enemy? Max… you know me. You know I wouldn't betray the transgenics."

"Do I Alec? Do I really know you? Does anyone?"

Alec turned his back on her again. "Go home Max"

Max stalked after him, grabbing his shoulder and turning him roughly to face her. Alec shrugged her off him.

"Is that all you've got to say to me?" Her voice was charged… angry.

Alec almost spat the words at Max as he retaliated. "Yeah, that's it… GO HOME!"

He was looking down at her; his face an unreadable mix of emotions, and Max glared defiantly back at him, her eyes ablaze with anger.

"I know what this is really about" His voice was steady, taunting. "You're jealous"

"What?" Max screwed her face up in denial.

"You're jealous cos I'm out here, and you're in TC, you're jealous cos I can do things on my own, and that someone else would be interested in me, that someone thinks that I'm more than a screw-up, and that that someone isn't you!"

Max was furious, not because what he said wasn't true, but because he seemed to be able to predict her, and suddenly it seemed as if her actions weren't her own, like Alec was one step in front of her the whole time, like she wasn't in control, and Max hated not being in control.

Alec felt the blow to his chest and it knocked the breath out of him as he went crashing toward the ground. Alec sprung to his feet in an instant and put is defenses up, Max and him circling each other like predators.

Max was again the first to attack and Alec blocked her punches skillfully, and then knocked her off her feet. Max somersaulted back onto her feet and faced Alec once again.

The two trasngenics fought for some time, over a year of pent-up anger being released into the begrimed alley as they launched attack after attack, each equally matched and well-trained. But it was Max who finally gained the advantage, and as Alec slid down the wall where he had just been thrown, his body streaked with sweat, Max moved in predatorily. She watched him as he sat on the ground, a triumphant smile on his face, those green eyes flickering mischievously, and she smiled and outstretched her hand. No-one would ever be able to define their relationship, hers and Alec's, and she wasn't quite sure she'd want them to. She did know, however, that she loved him, maybe as a sister or a friend or maybe even as… whatever, but she loved him.

Alec reached for her hand, sensing the change in her demeanor, and his smile deepened.

But their moment was short lived. A shot rang out into the seething morning air, and Alec felt a fine warm spray on his neck and face. He looked into Max's eyes and they were large with shock and pain. It was then that he realized what was dripping down his cheeks – Max's blood. He reacted within and instant, leaping to his feet and blurring behind Max to the source of the gunfire. He grabbed the gun and the turned to face their attacker and Alec's heart sank. It was Frell. Frell stared back at him, surprised, and he stammered a reply, his usually deep voice heightened with fear. It was the first transgenic he had ever killed.

"She was… I thought it was gonna kill you. Did I do okay?"

A deep sorrow rose within Alec. He knew what he would have to do.

"Yeah… yeah, you did fine buddy…" And he reached for Frell as if to pat him on the back, but his hands found his neck instead. Within a second, Frell was dead.

Alec stepped back slowly, a single tear slipping down his cheek and he wasn't sure if it was for Frell or Max.

He heard Max sputter behind him and went to her side, picking her up slowly.

"Damn bullets…" She sputtered as deep red blood bubbled at her mouth. "It's like they're attracted to me… What am I? A bullet magnet?"

But Alec didn't laugh, he didn't smile. He placed her on his bike behind him and sped toward Terminal City silently, stoically.

And as the sun rose high above the city behind him, Alec headed to the shadows of Terminal City.


	9. Provisions

Thanks for the reviews guys, plz keep 'em coming, they are like air to me...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER NINE – PROVISIONS

Alec had no way of knowing it would have come to this. For years he had followed his orders, maybe not always exactly, but he had been a soldier, and a loyal one at that. But then she had come along, had thrown his life into discord, had changed everything. And now this is what it had come to. Max, the woman who had changed his life, lay dying in a provisional hospital in a provisional home - Terminal City. He watched her, watched the weak rise and fall of her chest, watched as someone so strong, so powerful, slipped away.

Logan stood uncomfortably beside him, his hands in his pockets, his lips terse. Alec knew that Logan blamed himself, and he couldn't say that he didn't disagree. Yet, for all their differences they stood together beside Max's now fragile frame, the only two men she would ever love.

Alec had gotten Max back here as quickly as he could, but she was already too far gone, and there was apparently nothing that could be done to save her. It killed Alec to just stand around, waiting for her to die. He was action, and yet there was nothing he could do, no action that could save her. The bullet had pierced her right lung, and as he and Logan stood there, waiting, Max's chest was slowly filling with her own life fluids, each rasping, choking breath reminding them that she would be gone very soon. Alec closed his eyes, as if blocking out the image would erase the reality. Max had helped him out so many times, saved his ass more times than he'd thought about hers (which was a surprisingly great number) and was always there, always, when he needed her. Whether it was breaking him out of prison, to breaking him out of Manticore, to helping him out of his Steelhead troubles… she was always there. But very soon she wouldn't be. Soon she would be gone… forever.

Alec's train of thought screeched to a halt. Steelheads. That was the answer. He didn't know if he could save Max, but he had to try.

"Needles, how long's she got?" Alec turned to Needles, TC's resident doctor, and pleaded with his eyes.

"We can keep her going for another three hours, maximum. But Alec, what are you thinking?"

The doctor's question was directed at Alec's back, however, as he slipped on his leather jacket and headed out the door. Moving slowly, Logan followed, catching Alec at his motorbike.

"Alec what are you going to do…?" Logan's voice was condescending and Alec turned to him with a scowl.

"What you should have… protecting Max…"

Logan watched as Alec sped off on his motorbike. He didn't trust Alec, but he'd have to trust him on this one, for Max's sake.

************************************************************

Alec lay quietly watching the warehouse. 10 minutes wasn't exactly recon, but it was all he had. He was certain the steelheads weren't there now. Well, kinda certain anyway. Okay, he was guessing, but hey, Max's life was at stake. He knew that this was Max's last chance. He knew that right now she needed him like she never had before, and he knew that he couldn't let her down.

Alec leapt from his stomach swiftly yet quietly and blurred silently to the door. He didn't like approaching in broad daylight, but he had no choice.

A simple twist of the doorknob and Alec was in warehouse, face-to-face with three angry steelheads. Alec held up his hands and flashed them one of his infamous cheesy grins.

"Hey fellas, arrrr, sorry, but I was just looking for…." He paused as they began circling him predatorily. "Damn, I haven't got time to make up a story for y'all…. Just show me where you keep your artificial human organs and I'll be on my way".

Gruff, angry faces responded and Alec knew that it would take more than manners to get him out of this one. Luckily, he was a genetically engineered superhero and had much more than etiquette on his side.

Back at TC Alec regaled his fellow freaks with the story of how three punches had taken them all down, and how it hadn't taken Alec long to find the big brown box with 'AHO' in huge red letters printed on it. Okay well it did, but he'd never tell anyone that. But he'd saved Max, and now that he was sure she'd be okay, he had no problem telling everyone that. They'd probably build a statue of him near the communications centre. Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad. Alec smiled as he shuffled away from the main crowd and into the makeshift hospital.

Max looked up at him weakly from the bed, her face still pale but her eyes blazing. "Hey… good work", she smiled at him weakly.

"Damn good if I don't say so myself" he grinned back at her. Her smile dimmed slightly as she shifted.

"It's gonna leave a hell of a scar… and…" Max looked down, a hint of guilt in her eyes, a deep sadness. Alec sensed what she was about to say, but he couldn't handle it; he couldn't deal with it right now. So he did what he always did, he smiled and he joked, and he built a wall around his feelings.

"Hey, so what, you have a fake set of lungs, who doesn't these days?" Max rolled her eyes and choked on a small laugh, but her tone soon became serious again and she looked at Alec sadly, her eyes apologizing.

"Alec… about… your friend… I…"

"Max don't… just don't… I can't"

Max saw the slump in Alec's shoulders, the heaviness in his voice. She knew that things were different now. Alec had killed – and not because he was ordered to, but because he wanted to. He wanted to kill Frell to protect her – to save her and the other transgenics. She watched him turn and walk away, defeated, beaten, and for the first time in a long while, Max cried. Max cried for Alec and what he had lost, what he had lost because of her.

************************************************************

Alec was slumped in a chair in the control room of HQ, every bone and muscle in his body aching. Even his teeth ached, if that was possible. He sighed exhaustedly and shuffled until he was relatively comfortable, ignoring the metallic click and electronic buzz of Logan's exoskeleton as he approached.

"Alec, thought I'd find you here"…

Alec responded without turning around. "Well now, I'm surprised…"

Logan raised his eyebrows. "That…?"

"That you thought."

"Alec, you don't need me to tell you that this is bigger than us, bigger than our… issues…"

"You got that right pal…"

Logan stuttered. "What happened to Max, it wasn't anyone's fault."

Alec spun the chair around slowly and looked up at Logan with dark from underneath dark lashes. His voice was laced with venom.

"Yes it was…"

Logan darted his eyes to the side as Alec seethed. Logan let out a long breath and changed the subject.

"I've got word from a source that Caldwell has captured four transgenics, 3 X6 and one X5. They're being held at the TIEO until the government can get the papers together to have them moved. You need to get back in there Alec, and quickly."

"Are you sure this is legit?"

"Quite certain."

"Well then I guess I'm going back up."

"It would seem so…"

************************************************************

Alec breathed in the air around him. It was so fresh, so crisp. One good thing about the pulse – no-one can afford cars so there's less air pollution. He'd heard that it had been a big issues in pre-pulse America. But this was a different kind of clean, this air was clean in the sense that it wasn't Terminal City, stinking as it does of pain, provisions and pollution. This air smelled of freedom. Alec smiled.

The morning sun stretched along the road that Alec walked, it's golden rays licking at water pooled in potholes from the nights rains and peaking into all ramshackle housing erected on the sidewalk. In the distance Alec heard a woman singing and he suddenly felt like bursting into song too. He didn't, of course - not that he didn't have a magnificent voice, but he thought he ought to remain inconspicuous for the time being. Not that he was doing a great job of fitting in. His smile radiated outwards and touched the hearts of everyone he passed. They all looked, they all wondered what incredible accomplishment he had achieved. If only they knew. He had killed one friend to save another and now he was about to infiltrate a dangerous street gang again in order to rescue his people from an almost certain death. If only they knew. But for now, Alec had a sense returning to him, a warmth inside, as slight as it was, but it made him fell like he was coming home, and it made him happy.

************************************************************

The Transgenic Information And Inquiry Office shone brilliantly beneath the perfect sun, its glass windows reflecting each ray and breaking it into a thousand strands of coloured light. Alec shuddered as he momentarily thought it looked beautiful. What a paradox, a sick, ironic twist that evil could often inhabit the most beautiful vessels.

Alec pushed the door open and the first thing he saw was her. Their eyes met as she turned to face him and he suddenly felt exposed. He couldn't lie to her, he wouldn't be able to. As if in slow motion she moved toward him, her dark hair bouncing around her shoulders and the sharp click of her almost too high heels resounding in his head and reverberating off the sides of his body as she approached. He saw her mouth moving, but he couldn't hear her as she screamed his name in joy and relief. All he heard was the beating of his heart, and all he saw was those eyes, dark, cavernous and all-seeing.

She threw her arms around his neck, oblivious to who saw them, not caring if their secret was exposed. She was so happy that he was alive, and that he was standing here right now. When they found Frell's body they had feared the worst. She was sure Alec had gone off to find the transgenic and somehow been killed in the process. But he wasn't, he was alive. She kissed his neck and cheeks and held him tight to her as if trying to ensure he would never leave her side again. It was a while before she realized that Alec wasn't responding, before she felt the cold damp of his skin and the blank, unseeing eyes.

"Alec, Alec are you alright?"

"Frell's dead." It was a statement, cold and matter-of-fact.

"We know, we found his body… where have you…"

I tracked the transgenic through the sewers, but I couldn't get it… it was too fast, and there were others…"

"But you're okay?"

He turned to look at her, his eyes blank, his face unreadable, but she sensed a trace of muffled guilt in his voice. "I'm alright".

He pushed past her gently and headed toward the elevator.

"I need to write up a report…"

"Alec?"

Antigone pleaded, but Alec turned his back to her and walked away, his body tense. She stood still in the same spot for a long while later thinking. Just as the sun was slipping away behind the mountains, a single tear slipped from those incredible green eyes.

"Alec…" Antigone whispered. "What have you done…?".


	10. Are You Happy Now?

Thanks for the reviews guys, plz keep 'em coming, they are like air to me...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER TEN – ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

Seattle settled beneath a brilliant silver moon that night; its translucent rays stretching out to caress the city resting quietly under the chill of Autumn. Stirring slightly and peacefully, it was difficult to comprehend the horror that would soon grip the city. The turmoil. No one could have known what was to come…

************************************************************

Antigone held the receiver to her ear, allowing the dull tone to calm her heartbeat. The tears she had cried were already dry on her cheeks, and her knuckles white from gripping the phone. She had done her job, what she was supposed to do - what she was _obligated_ to do. Alec was a transgenic. She was certain of it. She couldn't just let him get away. Transgenics were filthy, unnatural…

"Oh god…" Antigone fought back the urge to throw up. How could she have let him touch her? How could she have allowed herself to care for him? After what happened to Roland, how could she…

The tears came again. Painful – salty - stinging her soft skin.

The telephone slipped from her hand. They would be coming for him at this very moment, she thought. He would be dying as she sat curled on the floor of her apartment, hating him. 

She ran to the toilet and vomited.

************************************************************

Alec had waited until lockdown to sneak into the holding cells. The small regiment of guards in the TIEO's employ had been easily taken out with minimal effort. Getting out would be even easier. There were four transgenics, plus himself made five. They could take on anyone who opposed them. Alec smiled confidently.

"X6-818, sir!" A small transgenic barked at him.

"Dude…" Alec whistled under his breath. "Manticore's gone, remember?" 

"Yes sir!"

Alec turned his attention to the female X5.

"Who are you?"

"Chaser… and you?"

"Alec, rescuer…"

She half smiled at him.

"Have you got keys?"

Alec chortled. "Have I got keys? Of course I've got keys".

Chaser looked at him patronizingly.

"Then how about you unlock this thing and get us out of here?"

Alec had to smile as the X6's fell into line. "Sounds like a plan."

He led the small group of transgenics to the sewers underneath the TIEO.

"You should be alright from here. Travel separately - you'll find coded marks on the sewer walls. Follow these directions, and you should make it to one of Terminal City's check points. The transgenics on guard will let you know how to get to the promised land." He grinned involuntarily.

"Thank-you… for rescuing us…" Chaser smiled, and the X6's saluted.

"It's what I do…"

************************************************************

"Damn…" Alec barely winced as he felt the bullet tear through his abdomen, his life fluids spraying the gleaming glass doors behind him. They had taken him by surprise, he'd give them credit for that, it had been a long time – if ever – since he hadn't sensed the onset of danger.

Or had he? For the last few months all he seemed to live was his own death. Over and over again. The dreams, the damp, the dark… that ominous feeling that embedded itself in his psyche. It had led to this.

Alec gulped for air.

About a hundred armed police directed their guns at him. They must have known… Alec thought. But how? He felt weak, not so much from blood loss, but from the sudden realization that Antigone had been the one who killed him. She may not have pulled the trigger, but she had told them, he knew it.

He had been leaving the TIEO after making sure the others had gotten out safely when he was ambushed. An ironic smile crept across his face. Guess it wasn't that easy after all. 

Alec's knees began to give way. At least the others got away okay.

He could hear rioters in the distance, screaming for transgenic blood to be spilled. He could also hear a small group of transgenic supporters as they fled, although they were the obvious instigators of the fray, protesting for the release of the four transgenics held captive at the TIEO, they were no match for the mob of transgenic haters who came to disband them.

Alec suddenly wondered why the police had stopped shooting at him. Like one bullet would be enough to stop him. How they underestimate him, he smiled. He went to move, but realized that he was no longer standing. He looked up to see the smug face of Senator McKinley gazing back down. 

"You scum…" The Senator's voice was cold.

"Hey buddy… nice to see you again too…" Alec retorted sarcastically, his hand fumbling about under his jacket as he searched for his wound in an attempt to plug the bleeding.

McKinley kicked Alec in the gut and he could taste blood in his mouth, its metallic serration jolting his senses back into action

"He attacked me…" the Senator spat. "Kill him…"

It had taken Alec less than a minute after he was kicked to realize that Senator McKinley had superhuman strength. He was a familiar.

Alec struggled to move as he heard the chilling sound of hundreds of guns simultaneously loading.

But it was a scream that allowed him to escape. A single, terrified, pained scream that ricocheted disturbingly off the tall glass building behind him. He recognized the scream - he had heard it a million times before. From his victims, and from fellow soldiers who died in the field. 

Gunfire filled his head. He rolled, he ran, he tried his hardest to get to the scream. The other transgenics had been found. He could hear the sickening thud as rioters beat on Chaser and her screams of agony, could hear every bullet as it tore through the flesh of the younger X6s. His heart sank. He had failed. They had been found by protesters and dragged to the surface. Tears prickles at Alec's eyes. 

He found himself separated from the group, he couldn't see Senator McKinley and for the time being, no police had noticed him slip away. The mayhem had helped him escape. The other transgenics pain had saved his life. He cringed.

Screeching car tires drew his attention. He paused, holding his wound. The car window rolled down.

Antigone, her face determined and set, gazed out at him.

"Alec, get in the car…"

"Are you happy now?"

His eyes pierced hers. She looked down.

He turned and fled. She jumped out of the car, following him. The sounds of police sirens rang shrill around them, gunfire and screams coagulating with the sounds of the mob as they released their hate on the world.

Alec was too weak to blur. He ran slowly, blood trailing behind him. Leading her to him.

He collapsed in a heap in the corner of an abandoned warehouse. So this would be where he met his end.

Antigone entered shortly after him.

"Alec…?" Her cry filled the empty space, the air thick with emotion.

She knelt down beside him, her hands instinctively pressing against his wound to stem the steady flow of blood. Her beautiful eyes were clouded with a deep sadness.

'Alec, I'm so sorry…" Her words were quiet, only just above a whisper, her voice hoarse. 

He looked up at her. "Through you, I die…" His words held no judgment, no hatred. They were nothing more than an uttered truth.

She broke down, tears marring her perfect skin, sobs racking her body.

"Alec, you lied to me…"

"You're so stupid Antigone…" Again, he didn't judge.

She wept beside him.

"You're whole life has been a lie. Just so you know, McKinley killed your fiancée, it wasn't a transgenic. He must have been getting too close to discovering Manticore and the Familiars , so McKinley had him silenced. You're not really his niece, either."

"Alec… what? What are familiars?"

"Your uncle. He tried to tell you, that we were monsters, tried to tell the world. But he's the monster…"

He spluttered, but could feel his strength returning. Just having her here, having her near him, was enough. 

They could hear the rioters pass by, screaming insults, dragging the bodies of the transgenics behind them. "Burn the animals!"

He looked at her earnestly for the first time all night, his characteristic smirk far removed from his handsome face. 

"We're not animals", he sighed and paused for a moment, drinking in the damp air. "No more than you anyway… We live, we hurt…" Alec's hand instinctively came to rest upon hers over the wound in his abdomen. "And we love…" 

His eyes grew dark and penetrated hers, making her feel exposed, with all her judgmental idiocies laid before him, all the scathing words she had ever said and condescending, degrading looks she had thrown his way bubbling beneath her. "Alec, I'm sorry…" 

As instantly as his defensive walls had come down, they were built up again, his face blanking, and his lips terse. He rolled his eyes and grunted as he forced himself to stand, shaking her hand off his stomach. "You're only sorry… because you don't know the truth…" His eyes met hers again, unrecognizable, churning pools of anger. 

"Alec, what truth? I don't understand…" 

He stepped closer to her, his stride slow and deliberate. "What they're saying out there", he quipped with an understated flick of his hand in the direction of the protestors on the street, "It's all true…" Antigone looked at him, puzzled and frightened but he continued. "I _am_ a danger. I _am_ a killer…" 

"Alec…" her voice was pleading. 

He drew closer to her, his body tensed. "I have killed dozens of men with my bare hands, felt their throats crush beneath by palms as I choked the last drops of life from their worthless human bodies…" He was so close to her now that she could feel the heat emanating from his body. She closed her eyes against his hostility and spoke slowly, her voice shaky. "Alec, I know…" 

"You don't know me…" He spat the words out. "You don't know what I am, what I'm capable of…" 

As if a sudden twister had formed within her, a surge of courage threw Antigone's deepest feelings to the surface, their revelations shocking even herself. 

"But I know I love you…" 

Alec snapped to attention, his eyes leveling to hers once again. He backed away from her measurably, a look reminiscent to horror plastered on his face. Slowly he turned his back to her as he stepped out onto the other side of the street, the cold rain greeting him on his departure from the building. 

"Don't say that…" he rasped the words out as he turned to find that she had followed him. "Don't ever say that Antigone…" 

A deep sadness laced his words and all rage had seemingly drained from his body. Alec had heard those three words said aloud to him only on one previous occasion, and the memories sent chills through his body. He needed to get away from her, to protect her, hell, he loved her, he knew he did, but he didn't want her die. And that's all that loving him would bring – death. 

He had tried to push her away by telling her what he really was, telling her that he is killer. But then she had said she loved him, and that changed everything. It was hard to push love away. The sudden sharp pain in his chest ached far more than his abdominal gunshot wound, and as his heart constricted he felt as if his whole world was going black. But somehow he managed to turn and walk away, leaving behind him the sounds of a continuing battle and the woman he loved, her salty tears mixing with the rain as it fell steadily from the darkened sky.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	11. The War

Thanks for the reviews guys, plz keep 'em coming, they are like air to me...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokal_angel_@hotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy 

CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE WAR

Mole had said that a war was coming. He was wrong - the war was already here. 

It was all around them - seeping from the protesters camped out the front of Terminal City, flaring from the weapons of soldiers and police and circulating across the nation like an insidious plague, spreading fear, inciting hatred.

Fewer and fewer transgenics were arriving at TC each day - fewer were surviving the perilous journey. 

Alec's people had become the hunted.

Alec himself longed to escape Terminal City - he hated it. He hated the atmosphere of imminent danger, and often when he closed his eyes for a moments peace, perched high on top of HQ, his other senses - not his genetically engineered super senses, but that feeling, that intuitive awareness kicked in, and he would almost swear he could pick up the scent of death in the still night air.

It was as if it was searching him out specifically - warning him, haunting him.

He knew that if they stayed here much longer, they would die.

"Whatchya thinkin' about?"

Max approached Alec slowly on the roof of HQ. So much like Ben, she thought almost offhandedly, always searching out the high place.

"Nothing" Alec grunted his response.

Max sat on her hands beside him.

"Just that you were looking particularly broody..." Max shrugged.

"I'm alright..." Alec half smiled.

"Of course." Max nodded knowingly.

They stared out silently at the fires lit in perimeter around the nuclear wasteland, both listening absently to the static transmissions of the guards' communicators.

"We have got to get all these people out of here." Alec voiced his fears.

"I know. But the question is, how? And then what? We just live our lives constantly on the run?"

"Anything is better than this. This isn't living."

"Then what is it?" Max turned to look at him.

Alec sighed and closed his eyes, shrugging as if trying to shift a huge weight from his shoulders. "Waiting to die."

Turning back to watch the guards, Max sighed.  


************************************************************   


Alec woke screaming and Joshua almost jumped from his bunk and ran to his side.

"What's wrong Alec? Another bad dream?"

Alec wiped his face, his hands wet from a cold sweat and tears he didn't remember shedding.

Their cries of pain still reverberated inside his skull as he shook the last remnants of the dream from his being.

"Yeah buddy I'm fine, go back to bed."

"Alec doesn't look fine."

"I'm alright." Alec's words were slightly more forceful, but not harsh as he spoke to his part-canine comrade.

"Alec likes to think he's alright when he's not."

Joshua stood slowly and climbed back onto the top bunk, his huge limbs hanging unseemly over the side, and waited for Alec to confide in him.

After a short pause, Joshua smiled as Alec spoke.

"If we can't find a way out of here, most of us will die."

"Max said stay put. Stand our ground."

"This isn't 'our' ground, Josh. This is some biologically unsafe hell-hole we're all kept prisoner in."

"We're safe here."

"Not for long, Josh, not for long. Sooner or later some overeager sector cop is gonna try something, or the army'll come in, bullets flying, a huge commotion, chaos..."

Alec trailed off, a realization suddenly crossing his mind.

He had possibly just come up with a plan - an insane, dangerous plan with a high probability of failure - but a plan nonetheless, to get all the transgenics out of Terminal City.  


************************************************************   


"That's insane"

Max put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips exaggeratedly. 

"But it might just work..." Mole grunted, rolling a cigar through his fingers thoughtfully.

Alec, his eyes bright while the rest of the gang rubbed their tired eyes wearily, paced the room excitedly.

"I mean think about it Max. We were trained to do it - lower our body temperature, slow our heart rate, cease breathing..."

Max ran tired hand through her hair.

"But Alec, we'd actually have to let guards in here, soldiers will actually shoot people..." She pouted again.

"We can wear Kevlar vests, dodge bullets, play dead... No one will be guarding _dead_ transgenics..."

"They don't even have to be real soldiers..." Mole rubbed his hands together conspiratorially, his cigar bobbing up and down as he spoke.

"That's brilliant Mole..." Gemma spoke up, her hands moving quickly as she spoke equally as fast. "We can get most of the X's disguised as soldiers..."

"In all the chaos no-one will notice the switch. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that norm soldiers are disorganized, erratic. We can use this to our advantage."

"You know..." A sly smile began to creep over Max's petite face. "This might actually work..."

The team grinned stupidly for a few seconds, for a moment all thought of failure had escaped their minds, and for the first time in a long time, a glimmer of hope and penetrated the thick blanket of fear that hung over Terminal city.

"Just one problem..." It was Joshua who raised the question. "How will we get the soldiers to attack?"  


************************************************************ 

Alec ran his hands lovingly over the blueprints to their freedom and smiled. It had taken 4 full weeks to plan, and the co-operation of every transgenic in Terminal City, but they had made it work - theoretically at least.

Tomorrow they would put their plan into practice. Tomorrow would be the first day of the war.

"You nervous?" Max stood framed by the doorway.

Alec grinned wickedly. "Me? Never."

"If we pull this off, it won't be over..." Max folded her arms characteristically across her chest.

"I know, but at least we'll have a chance. It won't just be a shooting gallery - all of us rounded up in the same place. We can fight back, organize, succeed."

The transgenics had agreed on a system of government similar to the one the employed whilst living in TC - Max and Alec were unanimously voted as leaders, supported by a group of elected transgenics, not surprisingly these included Joshua, Gemma and Mole, who would govern collectively from a location that would change regularly.

Each individual transgenic had been assigned to a cell - a unit - an almost autonomous group that would travel and operate together in their efforts to undermine the system and improve the living conditions of transgenics worldwide.

These cells would be led by a Cell Commander, who would answer to The United Transgenic Government - Max, Alec and the others, and who would be the only one in that cell to know of the government's location. Only the government would know the location of each cell.

It was an almost flawless system - Joshua had designed it as such, and every transgenic had approved of his design.

It would ensure the safety of the transgenics - if one cell was located, the other would remain safe. The only area capable of error was the government, in whose hands the lives of all transgenics rested. But they trusted their leaders - hell they voted for them, and they knew that without them their people had little chance of survival.

Alec knew that it would be hard, that many transgenics would die, but he knew it was a risk they had to take, for the sake of their entire people - for freedom.

Max moved toward Alec and leaned her head against his chest. His arms lifted automatically to encircle her and his head dipped to rest in her hair.

"At least we'll be together, you, me, Josh. We'll be alright."

He breathed her in as they stood for a long moment.

Max didn't know why, but she had a strange feeling, an ominous sensation that this would be the last time he would ever hold her in his arms again.

A tear slipped unnoticed down her cheek.

"Don't ever leave me Alec..." Her voice was only just above a whisper.

"I'm not going anywhere..." Alec held her tighter. "I won't leave you." He tried to reinforce the conviction in his voice, but it faltered. He couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't leave her - although he knew he didn't want to. But he couldn't guarantee anything. There were no guarantees. The only thing he was certain of was that after tomorrow nothing would ever be the same. Ever.

************************************************************ 

Alec had no way of knowing what was to happen.

He had planned everything, made allowances for anything, and stopped at nothing.

But he couldn't have predicted the fate that would befall his people.

They stood in line - all of them, weapons in hand, wearing their war faces - the faces Manticore had painted what seemed like such a long time ago.

Alec breathed in deeply. He could sense Max trembling beside him.

"We'll be fine." He tried to smile, but his body was frozen in fear. No amount of training could have prepared them for this.

"Yeah, of course we will be..." Max nodded, her hand reaching slowly over to grip Alec's. She squeezed his hand, fighting back the tears.

They watched the sky for the signal. Thousands of Transgenics gazed upward.

The army had been observing the activates in TC for a week, they had seen the barricades assembled, witnessed lines and lines of transgenics flow forth brandishing weapons.

In turn, they had mobilized almost three times as many troops, their presence surrounding Terminal City like a cloud of manufactured camouflage.

They were poised, alert, waiting to pounce.

That morning the air was heavy and crisp, and the smoke burning from Mole's cigar trailed upward like a snake cutting through the water's surface.

Over the barricades Reverend Terry Caldwell stood atop an overturned car, his hands raised high in exacerbated praise.

"And you are doing God's work today!" His voice, thick with a self-righteous drawl, carried to the transgenic frontlines.

"You brave soldiers who God has sent to cleanse the Earth of these abominations!" He flicked his hands out toward the US soldiers as if his violent movements would rouse God from his omniscient yet detached perch and ignite his wrath on the world.

"You are not killers, for these things are not alive! You are not vengeful, but merciful! You are not warriors, for you are just. And today..." He paused as his beady eyes scanned the soldiers' faces, the sweat running down his face staining a perfect white collar.

"...and today you are no longer men, but hero's!"

The soldiers roared their approval as Max swallowed nervously.

Terry Caldwell stepped down from his street alter and eager men shook his hands.

Alec looked up and his heart skipped a beat.

Gemma's plane careened over Terminal City, a fine spray of red gas billowing out behind it.

And so it had begun.

The gas spread over the wasteland and the soldiers surrounding it scattered. Their commanders yelled orders, and the first gunfire spewed out.

The gas provided a cover. As it hit the ground it created a thick black smoke, choking the humans who breathed in it's intoxicating fumes.

To Alec, everything happened in slow motion. He saw the faces of angry young men as they lunged at transgenics. He watched as one by one his transgenic comrades dropped to the ground.

The army closed in, leaving the fallen transgenics lying motionless behind them.

In waves the dead began to rise and escape. It was working just like Alec had predicted - as the army closed in on HQ they ignored the transgenics they thought they had killed.

Several cells of X-5's managed to walk out of Terminal City in stolen uniforms.

But Max and Alec continued to withdraw to the heart of their radioactive home.

They were the final front - the last line. The transgenics the nation most wanted dead.

But there were still many transgenics trapped within TC, and Alec knew that the last ones to leave would have the most difficulty.

"I can't 'em off much longer!" Max's face was streaked with blood and sweat.

"I know!" Alec's words came out breathlessly.

They ducked into HQ as an explosion shattered three of their companions. 

"Alec!' Max's eyes were desperate.

He didn't know what he could do. There was no way out of HQ - the army had them surrounded.

"We're not gonna die her!" Alec screamed above the sound of gunfire and explosions.

"They need us!" Max yelled back as she reloaded a clip.

They could explosives and drills outside the blast doors, it was a matter of minutes before they would enter the building.

Alec looked up. "The roof!"

They jumped up, Alec slowly punching a hole in the roof.

"Hurry!" Max's voice was hoarse.

Alec lifted Max up and she squeezed through the small opening. 

"It's clear!"

Alec followed.

From here they could see the extent of the destruction. The war had spilled out onto the streets as soldiers hunted fleeing transgenics and it seemed as if the whole city was aflame, the fire licking at Seattle's wounds, cauterizing, cleansing.

And they saw bodies. Hundreds of transgenics sprawled across the grounds of Terminal City, their blood seeping into the already impure earth.

"What have we started..." Alec voice was no more than a whisper.

Max's eyes were wide and her heart was breaking.

"There's no hope..." Her voice broke and tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Hey!" Alec lifted her chin gently, his fingers wiping her tears. "There is always hope. As long as we are living and breathing and fighting, there is always hope."

Max composed herself, checking her weapon determinedly. "Then let's fight!"

They spun round and fired as soldiers reached the roof, shrapnel echoing as it it hit the metal roof.

Max jumped from the roof and after getting out a few last shots, Alec followed.

They ran. Alec ran like he had never before.

In a deserted street not far from Terminal City he halted. 

Once again his world was thrown into slow motion. he had lived this before. He knew it. Everything seemed so familar, every scent, every sight.

Max turned to him, her hair splaying out behind her like a halo. He could see her mouth moving, see her hands waving frantically in slow motion as she yelled at him to follow her, but all he could hear was the sickening thud of a bullet being launched from it's chamber.

He turned slowly to the source of the sound and his eyes grew wide.

Antigone stood behind him, her finger slowly releasing it's tight grip on the trigger, a thin trail of smoke escaping from her gun.

A soldier slumped to the ground in front of her, a gun held in dead fingers focused on Alec.

"How did you get here?" Alec breathed out his words.

A wide smile crossed Antigone's face and she shrugged. "I'm a lawyer."

"C'mon!" Max yelled from in front of them.

"You saved my life!" Alec stood dumbfounded.

Antigone shrugged again. "You owe me a big debt."

Alec smiled.

"Hurry up!" Max urged them on.

"Let's go!" Alec grabbed Antigone by the hand.

Behind them the smoke from Terminal City billowed high, and like an a dark shroud it reached out to Alec - it called him.

Alec paused once again. It didn't take much, just a slight step to the side, to step behind her, and the bullet tore through his heart.

Max leapt into action, returning fire. The soldier crumpled onto the ground.

"Alec?" Max didn't move. She was frozen. His body lay on the ground, and she could see his eyes roll back in his head.

Antigone raced to his side, holding him, cradling him to her.

"What did you do? What did you do?" Tears flowed uninhibitedly down her cheeks. "You're so stupid!"

A wry grin crossed his face for the last time. "Consider our debt, repaid."

"No!" She grabbed at him frantically. "Don't! Don't you dare leave me!"

Max looked on, a cold chill permeating her body.

Around them the war raged on, but Max couldn't hear it - the only sound she could hear was Alec's heartbeat as it slowly faded into nothing.

So this was it, she thought. This was the end.

to be continued...


	12. Ascension

This is the final part to 'Get Ready To Live'. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed these past two years (almost :) and to those who haven't - there is still time to :D. I would never have continued writing this seemingly-never-ending saga without the kind words from you all, advice and gentle urges to keep writing. I hope you have all enjoyed it immensely, and have loved being part of the Dark Angel fic communities at Agora, Nuns With Pens, Gumboot Mafia and Broken World.

Sadly this is the last Dark Angel fiction I will be writing, but will still be making new music videos, so keep an eye on my site for latest releases (the videos have been moved to the 'Anarchy Entertainment' section).

Thanks again,

Vokal

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DA, Alec or anything of the like. They belong to people who don't appreciate them.

MY EMAIL: vokalangelhotmail.com

WEB ADDRESS: http:/destined.to/prodigy

CHAPTER TWELVE – ASCENSION

The last thing he remembered seeing were her eyes - her brilliant green eyes gazing down at him, tears welling in slow motion and the mist of grief clouding their immeasurable depths.

He felt himself drawn into them, floating, dissolving into their primeval protectiveness. In her eyes he saw the Space Needle towering proudly, bruised and battered but maintaining its unending sentinel over the broken world below.

He saw Manticore - glass shattering as the windows exploded and fired licked at the prison walls.

He saw Terminal City - its spawn raising a tainted flag high, and he saw Max, the breeze lifting her hair as she watched a friend laid to rest beneath the city's radioactive soil.

No-one saluted, no last shots were fired. No trumpet sounded. Alec would not die a soldier - but a friend.

Alec felt himself leaving them. He was rising now, higher than the space needle, higher than Joshua's painted flag, and into the velvety depths of a sky lined with fragments of pure light.

He was joining them - joining the stars in the high place.

But he lurched, tethered to the ground by an ethereal thread.

"I love you". He whispered softly to the woman holding him.

She held him tighter. "Don't leave me.."

"I'm free." Alec asked her to release him.

Antigone saw the distant look in his eternal eyes.

He smiled at her one last time.

It was one of the most beautiful things Antigone had ever seen, and one of the saddest at the same time.

She smiled too, she couldn't help it - Alec's smile had that infectious effect.

On the day of the war, in a dark alley by Terminal City, she smiled and cried over the body of her dead lover, her tears falling softly on his youthful face, washing him gently away from her, and into forever.

Antigone stayed cradling his lifeless body in her shaking arms, her fingers brushing through his hair listlessly as the war raged around them.

Max stood beside her silently, standing vigil over a hero, long cold in death, but a hero nonetheless.

Antigone sobbed. He had died for her - a stupid, worthless, imperfect human.

He had seen the worst of her, and had loved her anyway, and that had made him perfect to her. She wiped at her tears.

And now he was gone.

He had spent his entire life fighting. But it was over now. It had ended.

He would be able to watch from the high place in peace.

He could watch as Antigone battled sleepless nights and seemingly never-ending days, screaming herself hoarse at rallies, lobbying politicians and exposing the Familiars to the world.

Because that night, underneath the expansive sky of a changing world, as she clasped his cold, dead hands in her own, she promised him she would live his belief - that she was more than an imperfect human, that she was worth something - worth dying for.

She gripped his hands tightly and promised him she would never give up. And she never did.

Max watched the human girl rocking the dead body of her closest friend and she felt like something had burned her inside.

He was dead.

That moment of realisation would play over in Max's head for many years to come. His lifeless figure, the bright moon, the blood. She watched with sorrowful eyes, stained with a sadness that would never leave them after that night.

"It's over", she had remembered saying. "HQ has been taken, the soldiers are bearing down on us. This is the end."

"No Max. This is just the beginning". Antigone let go of Alec's hands and stood slowly.

She looked up to the sprawling night sky and could swear she saw a cocky smile mirrored in the incandescence of the stars.

"This is just the beginning".

Decades later people would still talk about that night. The night Terminal City fell and the transgenics fled. The night that hope was lost - but a new hope forged. The hope that if two beings - one human, one transgenic - could escape the narrow confines of fear and hatred and emerge into a realm of love, maybe the world could too. That if an assassin - a killer, a man raised behind dark walls of torture, and an elitist, a puritist, a woman with no thought of cause nor consequence, could love, then maybe there was hope for us all.

"There's always hope", Alec had said many years ago. Standing at his grave 25 years on, Max knew he had been right.

Even after he was gone, there was hope. Even after their kind had been hunted, chased, driven from their homes, captured, tortured, and almost completely wiped out, there was hope. As long as they were living, breathing, and fighting, there was hope.

Finally they had done it. The battle wasn't over, but it was a huge step. Transgenics, transhumans and their offspring were legally citizens of the United States and had been for three whole days.

The few of Alec's friends who had survived the long years of persecution stood at his graveside.

Joshua was gone, Gemma was gone, and Sketchy had been shot down by police at the Transgenics Rights Rally of 2033.

They were with Alec now in the high place, resting.

But Max was still fighting. Older and battered but standing by his resting place, head held high and as proud as ever. Logan stood beside her, solemn as Max poured Alec a scotch and placed it at his gravestone.

"If you don't pay me back for this..." She choked through suppressed tears. "...I'll kick your ass."

She drew a breath sadly.

"You should have been there. She did a'ight, your boo." Max looked proudly to Antigone, whose face was awash with fresh tears.

"You should have been there". Max reiterated softly.

Normal moved up from behind them and placed a set of boxing gloves on the tombstone, patting them affectionately. "Bought you these golden boy. Signed by Burge The Beater. He's a new fighter, half transgenic, cheeky as hell - you'd like him. You would have liked him." Normal sighed.

Original Cindy kissed two of her fingers and placed them gently upon the cold stone. "We love ya boo." She nodded and backed into the crowd so that others could pay their respects.

People kept coming all through the night, transgenic and human alike, even those who had never known Alec, but who heard of him and known of him only as a hero of a past age, dutifully remembered.

As the night wore on, two people remained at Alec's side, just as it had always been. Max and Antigone, their tiny, ageing frames outlines against the starry sky. The two women Alec had loved.

"What do we do now?" Antigone whispered almost to herself.

"We rest." Max placed a hand gently on her shoulder before turning and walking slowly away.

As she turned one last time she whispered softly. "Goodbye Alec, goodbye Antigone".

Antigone had visited his grave often - as often as she could. It was one of the only reminders that he had ever walked this earth at all. He owned very little, Alec, and the fractional amount of things he had owned had been destroyed during the siege on Terminal City so many years ago. Antigone had often wished he had left something behind, something to remind her of the way he smelled or felt, and just as often Max would remind her that she_ was_ Alec's legacy - the one thing he left on this earth - the person he loved, the person he had died for.

But Antigone knew that she would soon leave this life, and there would be nothing to remind the world that Alec was ever a part of it.

Antigone laid down beside Alec's grave, rubbing her hands through the soil.

As her eyes closed, Alec sidled up to her at the bar, a wide grin spread across his face.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He beamed up at her, one eyebrow arched.

"Sure..." She smiled back at him. "Absolutely."

Antigone lay her head down on the damp soil beside Alec's grave. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." Alec answered as the bartender put two drinks in front of them and Alec wrapped an arm around Antigone affectionately, kissing her softly on the forehead. "I love you too".

The stars shone brightly over the two dead lovers that night and into the fabric of time, long past the Year Of Citizenship, past the time when even Max took her seat beside Alec in the high place and into an era where Max, Alec and Antigone were merely the stuff of legend. Into a new world full of hope and promise.

But one night every year, the descendents of the Manticore Transgenics visit the monument at Freedom City, leaving flowers and promises at the base of the large white stone, and trace their fingers over the worn inscription, its context long forgotten but its message as clear as the desperate night it was spoken. There is always hope. Always.

THE END


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